WL//WH Review JE T’AIME
Today, November 1st is the official release date of the new “Aggressive” LP by JE T’AIME band from Paris, France, through Manic Depression Records (FR) and Icy Cold Records (FR). You can have it on CD, Vynil, and Digital too…and after the formalities, the very interesting and amazing story of this album begins…
Normally, I believe all the reviews for JE T’AIME‘s new work should also include their previous “Passive” LP (Feb. 14, 2022) since it is essentially a double album with the same production and background, but we lost that previous release somewhere in the universe. We go on with what we have in our hands now, and what we have really “burns”. Before reading my words I want you to see what the same band says about their Passive/Aggression era, an important note that I found in the press kit and explains a lot about them;
Passive-aggressive behavior is a set of so-called passive attitudes that indirectly express a hidden hostility that is not openly assumed or remains unconscious to the subject. The first eponymous album tells the story of a young man who has abandoned his wife in the middle of a party. We follow his adventures throughout this hellish night…
…PASSIVE/AGRESSIVE tells us the continuation of this story which is mainly about the regrets and remorse of our hero. His wife has left him, his daughter hates him, and even his dog has run away. It’s the story of a magnificent loser constantly caught up in the past, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, hurting the people who love him and finding himself completely unable to evolve. This double album “PASSIVE/AGRESSIVE”, together with the eponymous first album, form a triptych on the theme of the Peter Pan syndrome and the difficulty of growing up.
You will find all these thoughts and the idea of urban fission in the titles of the songs in “Aggressive” LP and of course in all their lyrics. Now I understand clearly why they wrote such ‘fast’ and ‘comprehensive’ lyrics…lyrics that must follow fast their thoughts, and lyrics that must run hand in hand with the bright uptempo post-punk that they are offering. JE T’AIME musically emerges from the dusty and raw Mancunian scene of the mid-late 80s and with great affection towards The Cure as well. All these formed the shape of this talented band and believe me, such bands with such talent and such ‘teachers’ later on are becoming the authentics of their times. Want some more names? Holygram (RIP), Soviet Soviet, Whispering Sons, Ritual Howls, Actors, the list is endless!
The main thing for me is to discover new ‘forms’ in the music we like and not to cry all the time that new music doesn’t come out anymore…JE T’AIME is not any post-punk revival crew, they are (among others) the new and so modern greyness of our times. Good players, and good songwriters, with excellent ideas that are often amazing and edgy, and with a new album that not only proves their performing skills but shows some breathtaking evolution since their debut S/T album back in 2019. In this “Aggressive” incredibly good album, the question is not whether the music “nails” you but more whether you will adapt or be defeated. Shiny sound, shiny band, it is one of the best releases of the year, easily. I have played on Loud Cities radio show two songs already from this album, “Elbow Beach”, and “Kiss The Boys (And Make Them Die) feat, Alex Svenson from Then Comes Silence”, and am gonna play more I guess…I’m thinking of “Tales Of Despair”, “Gone Away”, “Winter Lake”, and the closing track of the album “The Last Words Of A Sad And Pathetic Hero”. You can choose your own ‘weapons’ from this album and please, please…turn up the volume and listen to it loud!!!
“AGGRESSIVE”, the second part of JE T’AIME’s double album “PASSIVE / AGGRESSIVE” is out now, in Vinyl 12″/CD & Digital formats, via Manic Depression Records and Icy Cold Records.
Keep up with JE T’AIME:
Written by Loud Cities’ Mike
