Les
Thugs
This article originally appeared in NFH #16 in
the spring of 1989.
"For us rock
and roll is revenge...you take everything in your life and you blow it up on
stage."
"It's always
difficult to describe music, especially your own. We consider we are playing rock and
roll, 'cos we've got strong roots in it, from Johnny Kidd to the Sex Pistols or the
Buzzcocks. If I sum up what's often said about Les Thugs, I could say we play psychedelic
hardcore." That's drummer Christophe Davy's analysis of what Les Thugs are on about,
and one that comes as close to doing them justice as any I've heard.
Les Thugs are
probably the best band in France right now; their music is as powerful and intense as can
be found anywhere on the planet. And to add my own perceptions to Christophe's description
I would have to say that they are as fast as hardcore without sounding thrashy, that they
often do sound like the Buzzcocks but with a darker, less pop oriented feel, and that they
have a sound that nobody else comes close to these days.
What led to this
music? Christophe narrates their history: "Les Thugs started in Angers in April 1983.
But we had already played together in different bands since about 1979. In fact we learned
to play together. We knew each other since we were in school. Up to now we've recorded one
ep, "Frenetic Dancing" in January 1985, one mini-lp, Radical Hystery,
February 1986, a second mini-lp, Electric Troubles, and a 12" Dirty White
Race that is just coming out on Vinyl Solution. We also have several songs on
different compilations.
"Angers is a
small provincial town in the west of France, very peaceful. But even there we heard about
punk in 1977. I think it was the most important motivation in doing a band. Also because
there was nothing and we had to make noise by ourselves.
"We started
being really interested in music back in 1977 with the punk wave and I think we've always
kept the message of this time...fast noise. Our favorite bands of this time were the Sex
Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash and the Stranglers. Through this wave we've also
discovered that this attitude could be found in other bands like the Kinks, the Rolling
Stones, punk 60's bands like the Sonics, or pioneers like Vince Taylor, Gene Vincent, and
Johnny Kidd. And also the New York Dolls, the Velvet Underground and the Doors. For me all
these bands have the same spirit, the same state of mind. When rock and roll started with
Elvis Presley in the 50's it was yet punk music for the times.
"For current
bands it's a bit different for each member of Les Thugs. Personally my favorite bands are
the Hard-ons and Birdhouse, and also French bands like Los Mescalaros or the Noodles. Some
of the others are also big fans of Escargot, Moving Targets, and American hardcore
bands."
Les Thugs music is
true to the most important punk ideals; it's the music they want to play, and it's music
that places the value of the complete song above the value of individual musicianship. Not
to say that they can't play, either: "I think it's because we're obsessed by the
sound, not by playing well. We don't want to do a lot of things but are interested melody,
in developing the melody in the voices and the guitar. This is the kind of music we always
like and always play...three chords, one melody. It may seem violent but to us it's
normal, the way we react to what's around us. For us rock and roll is revenge...you
take everything in your life and you blow it up on stage."
"I think
everybody has their own idea of what he's looking for in music and it's almost the same
for rock and roll. For us rock and roll is wild and revolted music, but with emotions and
melody. The rock and roll we like is the soundtrack of our daily life. When you are in a
band you can create your own songs, the songs you like to hear, and play them on stage.
It's also a great opportunity to go to places you've never been, and to meet people. I
don't really know what we give to our audience. I imagine it's different for everyone. I'd
like them to find the same pleasure as us."
Here in the US you're
going to have a hard time getting that pleasure unless you look around some. Radical
Hystery and Electric Troubles can be had by mail from Closer and can be found
occasionally in hip indie record stores. Dirty White Race should be a little easier
to find because of their new deal with the UK label Vinyl Solution. And now there's a Les
Thugs single in the US on Sub Pop, though it's still limited. But it's worth the search,
trust me.
Being the best band
in France doesn't automatically guarantee success, as you can see. It's a struggle to keep
getting new records out for any band there. Christophe's assessment of the scene:
"The situation is rather strange in France. There are a lot of good bands, a lot of
people very active in the rock scene; fanzines, labels, and more people going to the
concerts than 5 years ago. But compared to other European countries like Holland,
Switzerland and Germany, the network is very poor, especially the places for playing.
Moreover the most successful bands sing in French, and people in the media seem to be more
interested in the lyrics than the music. And sometimes it leads to almost a nationalist
attitude. For example, foreign bands touring in France are very rare when they can go to
Germany, Switzerland or Holland. There is a tradition in France with what we call Chausons
Francais (French Songs); and it seems that even in rock and roll it's always the same;
people are more interested in the lyrics and how the people sing than in the music,
especially rock and roll. There is not a rock and roll tradition in France; it starts
about 5 or 6 years ago in France and before that there was nothing.
"There are some
good labels in France that make their best even if there is very little hope to live on
music. Our two first records were released on French labels, Gougnaf Movement and Closer,
but since Electric Troubles we are on an English label, Vinyl Solution, and it was
a very good kick for the band, because we've been able to record in a very good studio,
Redwood Studio in London, with a very concerned engineer; someone who really likes rock
and roll and knows how to make it sound like we like. In France most of the sound
engineers are not used to recording rock and roll music, so they don't really know how to
record distorted guitar and all this. So it is very good for us to be on an English label
because it's a big opening to Europe and the rest of the world. French labels are not
really good for the exportation.
"We sold about
3,000 copies of Radical Hystery, mostly in France. In France we've sold about 3,000
copies of Electric Troubles, but we've sold about 2,500 copies of Electric
Troubles outside of France in the rest of the world."
Electric Troubles
was harder, darker, and denser than Radical Hystery, although both records are very
intense. On Dirty White Race the guitar sound is a little cleaner, but otherwise it
maintains the same intensity of Electric Troubles. The band's intent is to
concentrate on the total sound, and as a result the actual lyrics can be hard to
understand. Christophe explains the evolution of the sound: "I think that the more
you play, the more you record and the better the recording sounds. I like very much Radical
Hystery, but it came out 3 years ago and of course I prefer Electric Troubles,
but I think I also prefer Dirty White Race and I hope I prefer the next one. But I
don't regret at all any records we've made. But it's true that for Electric Troubles
we had more experience in the studio and also in playing as a band.
"Every time we
do a song we try to make it as good as possible. I can't say I've got one favorite song.
Perhaps it's like for the records; it's always the last songs you've made that you prefer.
'Cos it does correspond to the kind of feeling you have at the moment."
I despaired at
understanding the lyrics, and with titles like "Dead Dreams", "Legal
Drugs", "Chess And Crimes" and "Bulgarian Blues", it seems like
something equally interesting to the music might be happening at the vocal level. But
fortunately Christophe can fill us in some on this: "Well, "Dead Dreams" is
about the people who leave their teenage dreams to become sensible adults and good
citizens. I mean, when you are young you don't want to live like other people; you want to
have fun and make a lot of things and then you go to the army, you have to find work, you
get married and all this, and you forget it. But you aren't really happy, and that's what
makes "Dead Dreams".
"Legal
Drugs" talks about some legal drugs that are more dangerous than smoking hash, but
that won't lead you to jail, and the official hypocrisy about drugs. In France, and I
think it's the same everywhere, there are a lot of people who die with diseases coming
from alcohol, but it brings a lot of money to the state, and it's also a tradition in
France that you can't change, so it's permitted, but for example, smoking hash is not
permitted, though it's permitted in some countries like Holland or Spain.
"Bad News From
The Heart" talks about the main reason for living that brings so much happiness or
pain, I mean love. We say in the song that love is the mother of the world, but every day
we have bad news from the heart. I mean, most of the time around us we can see people who
are really very unhappy with love. "Little Kiddie" talks about how the children
are educated by the family, the school or TV to become good people, good soldiers, or good
workers. It reminds me of one song of the Godfathers that I like very much, "Birth,
School, Work, Death". "Bulgarian Blues" is kind of a dark "Alice in
Wonderland" with a black and crazy rabbi killed because he doesn't believe in god.
"Chess and Crimes" talks about people are used by the politicians and terrorists
and how they are sacrificed for revolutions or things like this."
Dirty White Race
thankfully includes lyrics to two of the songs on the sleeve; the title track is a
powerful condemnation of people who are proud of their white race: "You killed the
Indians/Killed the Jews/Plundered round the world/How can you be so proud?". This is
potent stuff that deserves to be heard and understood.
There's a lot of
obstacles for a French band to overcome. France doesn't have the rock and roll legacy that
most English speaking countries have; it's only since the late 70s that there have been
any significant number of French rock and roll bands. Compulsory military service breaks
up many bands of youths in their late teens and early twenties. There's a confusion over
whether to sing in French or English, and there's a very limited number of venues, yet
traveling to other European countries requires wading through an immense barrier of
paperwork and visas. But Les Thugs have made the best of this situation and have played to
audiences all over Europe, going as far as Greece and Berlin, where they flew in a plane
for the first time ever, much to their delight. In Berlin they played in an independent
music festival where they got to meet a lot of other bands from around the world and
played to good crowds. Christophe feels that crowds outside of France sometimes are easier
to play to because they are more used to different rock and roll styles and adapt to new
music better. But they have good memories of most of the shows they've done.
"I really like
both recording or playing live; it's different pleasure but as important. When you record
you can make your songs sound like you really want. When you play in rehearsal, you have
not really got the sound you like, especially for me because I'm on drums; you don't
really hear everything like you like to. The stage is the same; the live sound is not
really perfect, but when you are in the studio you have time to work and really make the
songs sound right. When we make a song in rehearsal, I'm really in a hurry to record it so
that it sounds really good to listen to it.
"Playing on
stage is a different pleasure, but it's also very important. You make a lot of noise, you
can have a lot of fun on stage. There's also the fact that you are on stage, people are
looking at you, and it would be silly not to admit that it's a pleasure. And it's also a
very good way to travel, to meet people. Rock and roll needs to be on the road again.
"Since September
1987 the ones that were working in the band have stopped their work and we have tried to
live on the band. But for one year it was not possible. We made a lot of concerts; 50 or
60 concerts, perhaps more. But it was very difficult to get enough money, but we couldn't
live on it. We had some money on bank accounts to be able to live. Now it's a bit better.
We are just starting to get some money on the concerts and we can almost live on music.
For now we've made about 200 concerts since we started. I think we almost play ten
concerts a month on the average."
Les Thugs are feeling
confident about the future now; Dirty White Race, their new four track 12" ep,
is coming out on the German label Glitterhouse, and on a Spanish label. And of course
there's the US single of "Chess and Crimes" on Sub Pop in the US. In November
and December of 1988 they embarked on a three week European tour that took them to Italy
for the first time as well as Holland and Germany. In January they were slated to tour in
England, and while there they planned to start recording a new full length lp that is due
to be released on Vinyl Solution.
As for long range
plans: "We don't really have a plan to make Les Thugs more successful; we just make
things always as good as possible. We try to make a lot of concerts, to make good records,
to get licenses in countries. My ambition is not really to be very successful, to make a
lot of money, to go in the shops. For us the most important thing is to be able to go on
playing, making just Les Thugs music and being able to get enough money to live on music.
We don't really try to get more. If we become successful, it will be very good; we'd like
it, but we'll never do anything to be more successful; we'll always make the concerts and
the records the way we like it. And if we get success it's good, and if we don't it
doesn't really matter, the more important thing is to do what we like." Punk dead?
Bullshit!
