aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
# 105: Warum Joe – ‘Électrolyse’ (New Rose Records ’83)
Dear friends,
early/mid 80s indie/new wave/electro industrial/punk rock from France might not be the easiest genre to deal with, let’s face facts. At least not for me, whose knowledge of the French language is practically non-existing. I had it for so long in school, but all I remember is les haricots verts, prèmiere étage and (my favorite) je suis très désolés basically. Rather embarrassing when bearing in mind that I am in charge of the French market within our company for decades now! Anyway, I very much like the sound of this language, always did, and probably this is why I never lost interest in French music even though I can’t understand a single word.
Forty plus years ago, there pretty much was only one label around for French alternative, New Rose Records from Paris. They released two compilations, one in ’82 and one in ’83 – but those were full of complicated stuff, not very easy to access. The third compilation though, ‘La Vie En Rose’ from 1985, was a different beast: neatly put together, and you could tell the label had certainly broadened its variety by recruiting interesting artists. But on it there was one tune I always came back to back then – and only after the invention of this internet thingy I got to know that it was in fact an older song, from 1983.
So I started to explore the back catalogue from the band it was by: Warum Joe from Paris ( ‘Warum’, by the way, is German for ‘why’, should you be wondering). They got together in 1979 as Rock’n’Verole, then Von Cochran, but became Warum Joe in 1980, shortly before the release of their debut album, ‘Dans Le Blizzard’. Now, the debut was nice, but the follow-up, from a year later really was spot on: ‘Tanzen & Trinken’. This album had everything, and I can only recommend it to you if you have half an hour of free time. It misses the raw energy of the debut, but this is an advantage if you ask me – because the two things which made Warum Joe so very special fully came to light: a) their signature minimalistic sound beat box punk style and b) Pascal Sabotier’s chanting voice. Plus, it was just seven tracks on two sides, which guaranteed for a great sound. If you’re still not convinced to give it a listen, the only French comparison I can think of is Métal Urbain perhaps – which is a name you might or might not have heard before.
Comparisons with bands from other countries are easier, of course, or at least influences are: Joy Division, Devo, Wire for guitars and synths and Cabaret Voltaire for the dominating drum machine. I understand that might sound as if Warum Joe were just copying things, but this would be totally unjustified to say: they were quite unique, but you know what: perhaps it’s time for today’s tune to prove this:
Taken from ‘Le Goût De L’Effort’ from 1983, one of the more valuable 7” singles in the box, it must be said. And perhaps ‘Électrolyse’ shows why it is that Warum Joe were so very important and influential for younger bands, still are, in fact. So if they are so brilliant, why aren’t they world-famous, you ask? Well, throughout their career (and they are still going, mind you!) they always insisted on playing in clubs with limited capacity, because they felt that these surroundings would provide a more fitting atmosphere. Whilst knowing of course that this decision automatically diminished their media acknowledgement.
Give the song a listen, friends – it really is worth it – please let me know what you think, plus, of course: enjoy,
Dirk
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 