Le Force

Josh over at Wantage USA has been hot on this band for a while.

I got their first CD in 2002 and while I was impressed, I couldn't get past the overt and undeniable influence The Fucking Champs have had on Le Force.

I put the CD away and forgot about them until last year when Wantage USA issued "Le Fortress" which has been in my "must-write-about-this-CD-on-my-Web-site" pile for ages now. So, on a night that I have total insomnia, I'm doing what anyone who can't sleep does - writing about a punk rock CD.

Anyway, yeah, Le Force still sounds quite similar to The Fucking Champs, which has pros and cons. Sure, there are many parallels: the two guitar/drummer line-up, the heavy metal chugging and intense riffing, the largely instrumental vibe of musicians who have an urgent need to rock hard.

And like The Fucking Champs as well as bands such as Federation X, Big Business and 400 Blows, Le Force is on to something really vital - making unapologetic kick-ass music. Their music is unapologetically fierce, strives for totalness and is laden with that never tiresome mid-'80s metal/punk crossover sound.

Where Le Force begins to establish its own identity is on the storming track is "Sometime Everybody Needs a Tissue (Trilogy)." The song is an unexpected blend of metal, punk and prog rock, throwing in some Opeth-like ballad-y passages and some expanded jams that recall the emotional din of Louisville, KY's Rodan.

The remainder of the album is more dense and heavier in tone, ranging from Judas Priest-esque moments of metalmania on "The Last Nail in My Coffin" and hinting at some of the emotional energy of "My War" on several tracks. Le Force ultimately pays homage to the heavy rock genre without without dulling it down with any touches of funk or nu metal.

"Le Fortress" may not go down as one of the seminal albums of the current decade, but it's clearly indicative that the band's next effort may very well be a mandatory release. And with a new band member o board and a new record due on Wantage USA later this year, Le Force's reign may officially begin very soon.

You can snag a bunch of Le Force MP3s over at their official site.