Labels: Adagio830 – Echo Canyon – pure pain sugar
Review by: Samuel Rogers
Contractions are a four-piece group from Lyon/Besançon, who describe themselves as “indie punk”. I’ve always been suspicious of that hybrid, as it often leads to a watering down of the punk elements without capturing any of the strengths of authentic indie. Contractions are a complete exception to that rule. This is their first LP, following a couple of demos. They have the melodic-but-melancholy sound of underground indie rock, with jangly guitars, a mid-tempo rhythm section, and some morose “oohs” on the backing vocals. At key moments, the lead guitarist remembers he’s in a punk band, throws in some choppy riffs, and the whole sound takes on a harder energy.
The singer ranges from strained, tuneful singing through to punk shouting. Unfortunately, I flunked French lessons after learning the days of the week, so the lyrics are unintelligible to me. Interestingly, the record labels co-releasing this album are ones I associate mainly with post-hardcore and screamo. Although the sound is very different, the raw earnestness of this album might appeal to those audiences. Plus, as the title track shows, Contractions have the same kind of soft…loud dynamic as their harder stablemates. To sum up, this is a great, wide-ranging album that goes from reflective dimanche matin right through to wild samedi soir.