Bleakness

Reviews

Bleakness Living Shadows LP

Excellent live record from this Paris band. Recorded on tour in Georgia (the country), BLEAKNESS plays anthemic deathrock-inspired post-punk, captured flawlessly on this two-track LP. I don’t know if I have heard a better sounding live record, for real. For fans of POISON RUIN or ARCTIC FLOWERS, the songs feature heavy chorus on guitar, earnestly sung politically-themed vocals, and driving bass and drums. There isn’t much information regarding song titles or lyrics (other than stage banter), but it kills. They are so tight, and the energy is palpable. It sounds like there were maybe fifteen people in the Tbilisi audience, and I wish I was there. Dark punk for the ages and highly recommended.

Bleakness Words / Greed 7″

Parisian punks BLEAKNESS have a distinctive aesthetic that has been rocking in the darkness for seven years now. Anthemic, high-energy, but moody and gloomy—D-beat with a post-punk attitude. Both tracks on this 7″ feature heavy, bouncing bass lines, while the gravelly vocal delivery is somewhere beyond singing but not quite hardcore yelling. “Words” is a diatribe on politicians’ speeches and the danger of their lies with some swift guitar licks thrown in along the way, while “Greed” enters with some ripping riffs and lyrics that eviscerate capitalist culture. If you dig fist-in-the-air sing-alongs, then you have got to check this out.

Bleakness Life at a Standstill LP

What can you say, the French love their cold goth post-punk and so do I. From the same label as the excellent SYNDROME 81 is BLEAKNESS with their second LP, Life at a Standstill. While the former plays it straight with the post-punk iciness, BLEAKNESS is far more dramatic, opening the album with a lone piano that gives the proceedings a dramatic flair that permeates throughout the album. The vocals especially stand out; they have a pained warble that feels authentic. While all ten tracks are solid, two stand out above the rest: halfway point “Refuse Their Reality,” a hypnotic spoken word deathrocker that has an evil BAUHAUS vibe, and “19061924,” a beautiful and surprisingly sweeping instrumental that, if pushed, could almost go into MOGWAI or even PELICAN-like territory. I’ve got to say, it really left me wanting more of that sound. I’ll be excited to hear whatever these guys come up with next.

Bleakness A World To Rebuild 12″

A downbeat set of six from Lyon, France’s BLEAKNESS. At times sounding straight post-punk, then goth, and then almost new wave, particularly on the two synth-heavy “remixes” of songs that came off their debut LP Functionally Extinct. Within that range, and what I think gives theme to the whole piece, is Nico’s heavy, coarse vocals. Ultimately, the two-tone album cover and their name say it all.

Bleakness Functionally Extinct LP

The bleak piano intro sets the stage for darkness to come. Uneasy melodies and a sense of melancholy play the leading role on Functionally Extinct, while steady and catchy hardcore punk serves as a backdrop for this post-punk outfit. BLEAKNESS couldn’t have chosen a better band name. This a great modern French post-punk record sure to brighten (or darken) your days.