J.C. Satan - Crystal Snake by warszawarecords

Hell Death Samba
(Slovenly)
(out of 5)

Last time we visited Bordeaux, France's J.C. Satàn was for 2010's excellent Sick of Love, and the band's experienced some lineup shifts since then. "There are at least three of four people that played with us, but are no longer playing with us, in just one year," vocalist Paula S. said in an October 2011 interview. "Now I think we're a band." Thankfully, aside from some of Sick of Love's intentionally muddy production, the gothic and eerie garage-rock vibe of that album remains on Hell Death Samba, as does co-frontperson/guitarist/founder Arthur Satàn's (also of Meatards) preternatural instinct for deep-sinking hooks. Prime examples: the chorus guitar work on "Close to Me." The mighty chords sway around like an ocean liner amid washes of feedback and lunging bass, and the hard-hitting syncopated snare hits are the shit crashing around inside it. Coed vocals still ring of the morose, and so does this band. "We want to do a lot. Be more productive than the Beatles," Paula S. says later in the interview. Godspeed, J.C. Satàn, and please come visit Seattle.