Burn Witch Burn

BURN WITCH BURN - Little Green Fairy (Nova Express) There's some wonderful rock and roll to be found if you scratch just under the surface, and France's Little Green Fairy look to have tapped their own private motherlode. A dozen snarling balls of fuzz, posing as songs, and not a stinker among them. Their first album was more than respectable but the tuneage is a touch stronger and more consistent on "Burn Witch Burn", and the playing more focussed. It's nothing pretentious, just sparse and an undercurrent of vocal melody, much of the aformentioned provided by Rauky. The other guitarist, La Mouche, provides a foundation that's soaked in fuzz, while Clarisse's drumming gets the whole thing along at an energetic pace. The lack of a bass is not a drawback, as it rocks well enough. He doesn't make a big deal of it on the album cover but mainman Rauky, I'm reliably informed, plays guitar one-handed, squeezing unearthly noises out of its neck and putting most able-bodied six-stringers in the shade. Simple songs done simply are, more often than not winners, when played with energy, and the highlights range from the squawling title track to "Motown soul", which is underlaid with crazy keyboards (courtesy of label owner and co-producer Lucas Trouble (late of the Vietnam Veterans) and trademark guitar squall. Rauky's vocals take on a Mark Mothersburgh quality on "G. bye darling" where an insistent guitar figure wins the day. Wah-wah is heard to best effect on "Don't wanna be a fucking insect" (hey - an understandable sentiment.) The psych thread that runs through these songs makes Little Green Fairy something out of the ordinary. No surprise to find this band on Nova Express, an idiosyncratic label populated by some of France's best underground outfits. Lucas Trouble provides a gritty studio sound for these tunes without them sounding under-produced. If you're casting around, looking to hear something a bit different, you can do worse than chase this down. In fact, you should go out of your way to prcocure a copy. It pushes some boundaries. - The Barman