Black Robert

Since releasing theirsecond album, Brule Lentement [reviewedin #68], which wasinfluenced by TheClash as well as 1920s zydeco squeezebox supremo AmedeArdoin, this high-octane Cajun combofrom Switzerland have paid a visit toLouisiana. There, Cyril Yeterian (melodeon, vocals), Robin Girod (guitar, banjo, vocals) were struck by the way of life on the bayou, where fishing, growing food and making music are all of a piece, and where peopledon’t rush.

This has rubbed off. While energetic, Black Robert is not nearly as frenetic as Brule. It begins with an insistent but unhurried drumbeat, into which are mixed the voices of Cleveland Benoit &Darby Hicks, singing ‘Quinze Jours Passés, a song of the early, and reluctant, settlers of Louisiana. It features, too, the chilling sound of a chain – the kind that hobbled prisoners and slaves. Mama Rosin are aware that this isn’t simply good timeThis is followed by the plaintive banjo of‘Marinière’, a song from Martinique protesting the imposition of French occupation – the marinière being an article of clothing people were forced to wear. It is very short. Mama Rosin clearly appreciate the impact of the brief interlude and, as ‘Le Two-step du Motorcycle’ demonstrates, the slow build. This typifies the band’s approach. It is an old creole song done in the style of Swiss rockers Roy and the Motorcycles, plus a dash of the Velvet Underground. The album was recorded, as live, in a farmhouse in the Auvergne and the sound is as raw and vibrant as their last album, only less studiedly rough – and even better.