Stendhal
Impure
© 2000 Stendhalnoise Ltd (660355849022)
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Avant-rock experimental melodic post punk.
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Stendhal began from two ideas: modern music had grown stale, tasteless and unimaginative and live performances had become nothing more than glorified rehearsal. "Most music these days has a lot of fear in it. they- the artists- hide behind musical conventions," says Darren Morze, drummer for the band. "Stendhal is trying to transcend all of that and still make a listenable and enjoyable product. In short, our music fears nothing and no one."
Unapologetically blending hallmark rock and roll sensibility with sounds from far outside of the mainstream's tastes, has allowed Stendhal to bridge the gap between "art for art's sake" and enthusiastic audience acceptance. Empty propane tanks, gas cans, an oil drum, and sheet metal replace the traditional drum kit, while guitar, bass and even saxophone, are routinely desecrated by a dizzying array of effects pedals. Call it "art rock" or "experimental rock", these creative sounds are woven into a unique music driven by passion and intensity, to support haunting and intelligent lyrics.
The influences on Stendhal are many, but commonalities amongst the band members abound; Einsturzende Neubauten, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Big Black, My Bloody Valentine and U2. The band is as likely to draw inspiration from the fringes of the underground as they are from popular music. The marriage is a successful one, judging from the wide and varied audience Stendhal enjoys.
Debuting in March of 2000, early efforts were focused on establishing the band in the Philadelphia dark music scene. Word rapidly spread between promoters and fans across genres, and Stendhal began to build a coalition audience. Since then, the band has played everything from basement punk shows to theatrical productions, shared the stage with bands as varied as Foetus, Phantom Planet, Tapping the Vein and noise-artist Philip Smartze, and earned new fans at every show. Young Punks to old Rock and Rollers, Intelligentsia to Indie Rockers, can all be found in a Stendhal audience.
A Stendhal live show is a powerful display of raw emotion. The members of the band do not hide, and perhaps, are incapable of hiding, their emotions from the audience. It is visible to the naked eye and crystal clear to the ear, that passion drives this band. From the imposing stage presence of singer Jeff Bera to the high-energy stage acrobatics of bassist Kevin Miller, everything about the band conveys unyielding intensity in every song.
Not content with merely playing their songs, the band seeks to make every show an experience. "If all you do is play what's on the album, then people might as well not even bother coming to the show", observes guitarist John Yorio. "Improvisation gives us an opportunity to make something new happen in that moment - to get away from the safe and predictable and to take real chances." These improvised vignettes are as likely to give voice to atmospheric daydreams as they are to violent nightmares and they keep the audience listening. In response to such positive reaction, Stendhal has performed several well-received free-improvisation only sets.
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Amazing album. Hard to believe how they get that sound.
author: NecrotronThis is an amazing cd. I personally love noise bands, so this album really hits the mark. Stendhal really strikes the balance between pure noise and songs.
- author: Mike Ventarola
Stendhal's CD Impure could have easily been subtitled "Dare" simply because that is what they did. This four-piece outfit didn't strive to create a formulaic album with pretty choruses and glittering lyrics. Instead, they defiled every inanimate object known to man, and like the Blue Man Group, created order from the chaos. They utilized no synthesizers, samplers or digital manipulation of any kind but rather enmeshed the sound of guitar and bass that were put through the rigors of banging and bowing and wove them through a strange cacophony that included everything from metal detectors, oscillators, televisions, and scrap metal. The Boat Song darkly opens like some ill-fated ship lost at sea. The noise effects give rise to an eerie soundtrack quality. Guitars are abused to reach the right note within the parameters of disorder. 4th Passenger tends to have an alien quality to it. The song embraces the future with its stark sounds, catchy off beat rhythm and midnight quality vocals. Think Gary Numan meets Bauhaus. Double Image delves into a more goth rock friendly style song, clearly demonstrating that this band is quite capable of creating club friendly songs if they had to. In the break, we are once again treated to a sonic world that this band hears and interprets. Even if one is not too keen on avant-garde expression of sound, one cannot help but be amazed at how well this band expertly layers each tone. Third Person Singular almost segues from the last song with guitar licks that are a tribute to every underground band that has come before them. This track harkens back to the early stages when punk was evolving into goth. Every Night takes a recorded voice and white noise and places it within the parameters of a heartbeat style rhythm. The lyrics are sung over this in an odd mix that resonates with the emphasis of the forlorn. Tundale veers again into the realm of early punk/goth with added background bonuses that one is hard pressed to identify. This is a haunted track full of kinetic energy. Lucky 7 seems to emanate with an Asian influence with the way the intro portion of the song utilizes what sounds like cans and bottles, each clanged with a tonal intent that works well. Legend Song segues from the previous track with militaristic beats and guitar chords that are from the school of early Bauhaus and the Joy Division. The song leaps from the CD, almost demanding to be considered a classic, which it certainly deserves to be. Lord Dufferin starts a shoegazer style track that opens with 2 guitars and a drum, metronomically keeping time with the vocals, which then segues with tougher sounds to coalesce into a dark rock track. The Girl With The Purple Face brings us into a mild reverie with sounds that are also backward masked at the opening. This track also works as one that would be club friendly to some extent because it pulsates with great energy between the somber moments. My Life To Live opens a haunted style piano instrumental that seems to have been recorded from a timeless past. Dialogue samples are layered under the music, indistinct, but adding to the element of mental reflection. Once again, the band utilizes sound to reflect the pervasiveness of technology replacing our memories and emotions. Had Stendhal only created an album full of cacophony, their talent would have been highly suspect. However, they defied the laws of music by utilizing objects to create tones that work harmoniously in their songs. Much of this work is reflective of the early punk/goth transition, yet with the added machinations of objects that were never meant to be used as part of a music venue, they clearly brought the underground world full circle. In a world where every 20 years everything old is new again, Stendhal pays great homage and does justice to the early roots of the punk/goth hybrid era. That is not to say that this is an album steeped in merely borrowed elements of that period. Instead, they have taken all that was great about that time, added some expert touches, utilized additional sound effects and handed us what could be a glorious future for the underground musical movement. Stendhal demonstrated that a band does not need fancy gadgets to create something new and innovative. They took sound from the world around them, or tweaked it out of objects for the desired results, culminating in an album that is well done, thought provoking and entertaining. The work may not be to everyone's taste due to the somewhat experimental nature that is woven within the songs. However, fans of early underground work as well as "noise" fans, will find that it is a refreshing album.