Etron Fou Leloublan - 1982 - Les Poumons Gonflés

Etron Fou Leloublan

1982

Les Poumons Gonflés

01. Nicolas (4:07)

02. Mimi (2:59)

03. Exposition Universelle (1:43)

04. Nicole (5:41)

05. La Musique (3:03)

06. Christine (6:41)

07. Those Distant Waters (3:17)

08. Upsalla (2:06)

09. Io Prefero (4:30)

10. Pas'l'sou (3:14)

Guigou Chenevier / drums, tenor sax, vocals

Bernard Mathieu / soprano & tenor saxophones, backing vocals

Ferdinand Richard / bass guitar, vocals

Jo Thirion / Farfisa organ, piano, trumpet, backing vocals

Fred Frith / violin, guitar (6,10)

In which les 3 fous became 4 with the arrival of keyboard player Jo Thirion, and for the first and only time they had the same sax player for 2 consecutive albums. In addition to the expanded line up, EFL's fourth full length release saw the emphasis shift to relatively short, focused songs and in many ways saw them realise the abundant potential that they displayed on their early albums.

The fundamentals of EFL remained in place, despite the changes. Guigou Chenevier and Ferdinand Richard continued to play their Beefheart style rhythms and declaim their bizarre, surreal lyrics and narratives, which saxophonist Bernard Mathieu roamed around in the spirit of free jazz players everywhere. Jo Thirion added something of a new wave sensibility with her Farfisa playing, alternating between skeletal chords and spidery right hand runs which played off against the sax or vocal melodies. Whether the additional instrument was necessary is debatable, as EFL had always been good at getting the most from their minimal resources, but as a quartet their manic energy was channeled without being compromised. The second half of the album contains two outstanding tracks; Chrisitine revisits a piece from their previous live album and features Guigou Chenevier joining Bernard Mathieu in a tenor sax duet for the song's lengthy coda, while Those Distant Waters features their first English lyrics, delivered a la Inspector Clouseau and as surreal as ever. The sound is further complemented by occasional piano, trumpet and backing vocals by Jo Thirion, and producer Fred Frith adds violin and guitar to a couple of tracks (EFL played on Fred Frith's Speechless album at around the same time).

EFL's early output was sometimes frustrating, with raw inspiration jostling with indulgent noodling, or surreal routines that may have worked well on stage but didn't stand up to repeated listening on a studio release. Les Poumons Gonfles captures the best elements of their early work and manages to inject some discipline into the proceedings without spoiling the fun. This album will appeal to anybody who enjoys the lighter RIO of Sammla Mammas Manna and Fred Frith's Gravity and Speechless albums, or the jazz tinged absurdities of The Muffins and early Soft Machine. Highly recommended.

Well, "Les Poumons Gonfles" has to be one of the best of the honest to goodness RIO albums. The album is very fast paced and active, with instruments of rock, jazz, and French folk all coming out quick and playful, and drums pounding away with fury. The record is just plain a fun listen. "Nicolas" is the best track, and it's our rambunctious opener, showing off the band's lighter side, and the second best, "Those Distant Waters", is one of the two drum workouts and a chilling cut about seafaring. Beyond the obvious enjoyment, LPG features some wonderful strangeness and complexity from our Francais friends, with the aforementioned instruments many, and constantly rotated to allow for many different sounds. And thanks to the band's skill, this all works excellently. An avant romp done to perfection, I would recommend this masterpiece to anybody and everybody. And perhaps this is the best introduction to avant-prog.