Whatever is going on in Quebec needs to start filtering westward. Montreal band Duchess Says is just one of the many acts that have come from Quebec in the past years that blur the line between dance-punk and 1980s no-wave rock into a glorious mess of squawking synths, curb-stomping guitars and balls-meet-wall vocals.
Anthologie isn’t for everyone. While the first half has some safer tunes, the entire last half of the album is much different from most people’s comfort zones. On songs like “Ch.O.B,” Duchess Says evoke classic no-wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, but with added keytar. What does that mean? There’s no melody or consistent sense of rhythm, only a horror-show wave of sonic density. Even though you wouldn’t think it, the last half of the album is still oddly danceable, in a fucked-up-on-ketamine kind of way. Singer A-Claude doesn’t so much as sing on the album as she yells into the mike. On tunes like “A Century Old” you get the closest thing to singing, but that’s pretty much the exception–the rule being lyrics spat at a fierce and fiery pace or alternatively screeching out the speaker.
If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you can’t handle this music, then go purchase the latest Sarah Slean or cutesy folk-rock album. You will not enjoy Duchess Says. If dancing to music that’s got some balls to it is what you want, then go purchase Anthologie. There will be no disappointment. Only dancing.