Funeral Crashers- La Fin Absolue du Monde

ARTIST: Funeral Crashers
ALBUM: La Fin Absolue du Monde
LABEL: Self-released
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 5-18-08

With a name like Funeral Crashers, you'd expect this band to be campy, with lots of three-chord punk songs about zombies and vampires. Instead, this is solid old-school gothic rock in the vein of Christian Death and Bauhaus, sometimes raw and abrasive, but nonetheless possessed of a certain dignity. Lead singer P.H. Lovecraft (another deceptively campy-sounding name) is clearly inspired by Peter Murphy's early work, and applies his baritone in much the same way, sometimes yelling dramatically, sometimes crooning, sometimes deliberately flat. The Bauhaus comparisons don't end there, either. "Nuclear Man" is tense, dissonant and punk-inspired, galloping at a breakneck pace that recalls "In the Flat Field," and "A Personal Vendetta" employs the same percussive guitar effects that give "Bela Lugosi's Dead" its characteristic spooky dub flavor. Despite some pretty obvious similarities, Funeral Crashers are hardly a Bauhaus rip-off, and draw on all manner of influences from the early '80s. "Disconnected" is driving but melancholy, rather like Joy Division, and "Safe" draws on both the treble-heavy guitar screech of U.S. pioneers like 45 Grave and Christian Death and the tribal drumming of the early UK scene. Even better is "Blackout Days," which starts off with delicate finger-picking and Lovecraft's most thoughtful singing, then builds into a dreamy shoegaze-inspired rock number, loud but hypnotic. "Mystery Hand" is all power chords and punk energy, and "Faithless Sons" sees the band at their most original, with aggressive but melodic rock guitar slicing through the terse throbbing of the rhythm section. "Curtain Rise/Curtain Fall" is equally brilliant, catchy but hopeless, an anthem for the apathetic. Funeral Crashers don't wholly rise above their influences on this debut, but at the very least they manage to bring them together in an interesting way. Even better, there are hints of a truly original sound on display here, and it's a safe guess that their sophomore album will be terrific.

Crash the funeral at www.funeralcrashers.com.