The starting out of “Love…Brothel” is one of the more ambitious tracks to be found on any current disc. Incorporating an incredibly dense arrangement alongside breakdowns that incorporate national anthems, the chaos espoused by the band is simply orgasmic. Add that to the fact that the divisions between tracks are very fluid, and one will think that this is one long composition, chopped up for more rapid digestion. The aforementioned chaos of the band is something that if left unchecked would tear apart any band, but The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower are good enough musicians in the own right that they can all strive to create some different force on the disc and make something that is much more than the sum of its parts. The disc blasts forth to a sub-25 minute run time, and the fury of the band could do nothing but end that early. The old axiom is extremely fitting in this case: The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long”. While the guitars and chunky-bass come to represent a too-often phenomenon on this disc, the shrill vocals of Brandon are more than enough to freshen up any mustiness of the instrumentation.
Another thing that really helps the band during the mid-disc doldrums is the incorporation of Morello-esque guitar lines and what seems to be the lightest twinge of a woodwind during “Drake The Fake”. Even amongst all the random trills and riffs, a melody comes forth and will cause all listeners to start shuffling to the revolutionary beat. No where is this more present than in “Angry, Young and Rich”, which ends with the random slamming of hands against a piano. “Angry, Young and Rich” pushes the patience of its listeners more than a minor bit with the extended piano solo, but matters are resolved for the spastic “Lipstick SS”.
Well-versed in the gospel of Frank Zappa, The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower has created a disc that never rests on its laurels, and incorporates the funky, angular guitars of Franz Ferdinand while simultaneously holding political views that have became buffalos in this current period. In its incorporation of free jazz forms, The Plot to Blow Up The Eiffel Tower has moved beyond the limitation of such brain-dead forms of punk like crust and made for a lively, angry, and open-ended type of music.
Top Tracks: Angry, Young and Rich , Reichstag Rock
Rating: 7.6/10
The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower – Love In The Fascist Brothel / 2005 Revelation Records / 10 Tracks / http://www.blowuptheeiffeltower.com / http://www.revelationrecords.com / Reviewed 15 March 2005
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
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