Life Is Dead
No idea what's up with all these owls, but this is the second LP we're posting in a span of two months that features an owl on its cover (see also Monsieur Doumani's "Pissourin"). And thus we travel from sunny Cyprus to the supposedly not as sunny town of L'Aigle in Normandy, home to Cannibale, who just released their third album on Born Bad Records today. The five-piece outfit produces an irresistible blend of "exotic rock", combining sounds from the Caribbean, the 1960s West Coast garage scene and Brazilian tropicália to psychedelic effect, simply labeled "devotional" on their Bandcamp.
"In our post-all era though, this Life is Dead could sound like post-Cannibale. Simmered, gnawed to the bone; everything in that record feels more precise and simmered at length," writes Rémi Morvan in the album's release notes and while we cannot say if this rings true, seeing as we are late to the carnivorous party, we felt the sentence in itself was worth sharing. Either way, the band seems intent on keeping audiences guessing. What is more matter of fact is that all band members are well in their forties and, having played in countless bands that never quite made it, decided to get together in 2016 to create the insatiable Cannibale.
"Their distinct working method, both open to experimentation and mathematically redundant, ties all of their albums together," the release notes read and again, we'll have to take their word for it. But judging by what we just heard on "Life is Dead", we can't wait to explore the rest of the Cannibale discography. Like life itself, this album is a wild ride, devoid of inhibition, viciously creative and seductively alive. What more could we ask for in times like these, facing a world in rigor mortis, a life less lived? Leave it to this omnivorous outfit to serve up an invigorating 13-track album, driven by faith and urging listeners have fun with it while it lasts.
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