Paris Suit Yourself: My Main Shitstain
I hold a very romanticized vision of the French. I ignore the stereotypes that all French people smell and are rude; instead I imagine French people as demure, cultured, and well-behaved. It is easy to romanticize the French when their musical output includes everyone from Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg to Phoenix and Daft Punk but what Paris Suit Yourself does is so noisy, avant garde, and occassionally crass that it really made me question my romantic notions.
On their debut album, Paris Suit Yourself makes music that I can best describe as Pere Ubu teaming up with the ashes of McLusky to perform a one time tribute show to Quit Your Day Job. The opening track on My Main Shitstain is “Craig Machinsky.” The track mixes noisy drums with jazzy piano all while lead singer, Luvinsky Atche adds off putting vocals over the top. The chorus features odd child-like backing vocals that are a little creepy echoing Luvinsky’s words. The bridge of the song features Luvinsky beginning to rap and then saying “suck my dick”. The whole song seems like a complete mess but it is very telling as to what to expect from the rest of the album.
The album as a whole has very few redeeming qualities. I guess it is an interesting listen but moments of being interested are sprawled between moments of being repulsed, agitated, and generally weirded out. The press release included with the album suggests that “My Main Shitstain by Paris Suit Yourself could just be your new favourite record” but for me, it is my least favorite record I have listened to this year so far.
Rating: 0.4/10
MP3: Paris Suit Yourself “Craig Machinsky”
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