Teachers Hell's Kitchen Dress to dig (Dixiefrog) 2011 Listen

Hot on the heels of offbeat Belgian band, Hoquets, the Swiss trio Hell’s Kitchen is out to dynamite the French rock scene. Like their Belgian cousins, the three musicians get their kicks from tribal energy, experimentation and surreal humour. Instead of a drummer, their “forger-boilermaker” performs a percussion-drum hybrid called “percuterie”.

The band’s rough, saturated blues are close to the sound of US group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, except here the rhythm comes from banging ventilation shafts or a washing-machine drum, and sometimes rubbing bits of pasta together. Their songs are served up raw, peppered with cries, murmurs and rasping breaths.

Hardly an easy listen, Dress to dig, the group’s first album, gives its audience a rough ride through a sort of hypnotic whirlpool that gets a grip on you.  

© patricia de gorostarzu Hell's Kitchen on MySpace

It’s hardly surprising to learn that Rodolphe Burger, ex-leader of Kat Onoma and a figurehead of underground French rock, was involved in producing this challenging album. Instead of smoothing out the rough edges, the Strasbourgeois guitarist opted to push the group further into their experimental depths.

Many will find this disk difficult to tackle first time round, but the strong point of Hell’s Kitchen is that their music never comes across as cold experimentation. The sound is carnal and alive, full of raw-edged emotion, like the very core of the blues.

Hell’s Kitchen Dress to Dig (DixieFrog/Harmonia Mundi) 2011
Playing live on 7 September in Paris (Jazz à la Villette), 7 October at the Festival de Marne (Cergy), etc.

Translation: Anne-Marie Harper