An experimental gospel no wave soul pulp band, slurping Francophilia – Gainsbourg and Dutronc, Saint Just and Fanon, Badiou and Baurdillard – Black Power – Nina Simone, Public Enemy, James Baldwin, Fred Hampton, DJ Premier, and Fela Kuti – and Southern Gothic – William Faulkner, Nick Cave and Flannery O’Connor – into a stew thicker than bourguignon in the Algierian sun.
That’s Algiers own all-encompassing description of themselves. There’s truth to it. The band’s debut single ‘Blood’ is gripped by the dark hand of voodoo, a “slave-folk incantation”, a stumbling dystopian walk through a dusty monochrome post-world purgatory, complete with clattering chains and foreboding shadows. It sounds like an exorcism. A howl at the moon.
Algiers are from Atlanta but based in London/New York and consist of Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan and Lee Tesche and according to them, they started recording songs in 2007. Their debut 7″ is available via Double Phantom.
‘Blood’ is backed with the equally tense ‘Black Eunuch’ which is filled with fiery twisted noise reminiscent of TV On The Radio and you can hear that below. This is really exciting. Watch the vid, check the 7″ tracks.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
