Jucifer
L’Autrichienne
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That's an eight for effort
Jarring doesn’t even begin to describe the transition between the first two tracks on Jucifer’s fourth full-length. Basically, imagine listening to Veruca Salt’s American Thighs LP—not just “Seether,” but the whole damn thing—while your thin crust pizza of a roommate blasts Discharge so loud you can’t understand a note of “Number One Blind.” That pretty much sums up the glaring differences that continue to confound as a 21-track concept album about the French Revolution unfolds like an alternate reality soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette biopic.
As in a carefully-curated compilation where the Strokes, Air and Squarepusher are replaced by brittle but beatific pop balladry (the immaculately-crafted title track), gravity bong-sucking sludge (“The Mountain”) and pretentious, “Is this Sunn O)))?” nonsense (the demonic drone tones and breathy French dialogue of “The Assembly”). Each song tells a story, too, as frontwoman Amber Valentine reveals in some rather lengthy—and rewarding… if you have the patience—liner notes. Take “Traitors (Turn It Up),” for instance: The rabid soft/loud standout is apparently about how the Queen’s “angry at the presumptuous masses,” a know-it-all lot who think they can run the country way better than some fool in a crown and costume-y dresses. Sprawling to say the least, L’Autrichienne is a history lesson masquerading as a mixtape—one that’s worth a couple spins with or without its cheat sheet. —Andrew Parks
