Usures

Les Mécanos are ten hirsute men from Saint-Étienne who, in overalls and dungarees, sing in Occitan and French of the proletariat. They accompany themselves with tool percussion – knocking hammers, scraping files, clacking pliers. ‘Deman Matin’ is typical, opening with a single voice, joined by other voices in unison, then harmony, voices layering over one another. It’s the vocal expression of an industrial process, augmented by a rhythmic beating, something shaken and a whistle – the percussion of work sounds. It is engaging, powerful. A favourite technique, used in ‘Les Canuts’ (The Silkweavers), is to create a vocal drone, over which other voices lay a melody. It’s countered here by words spoken with the urgency of a speech at a protest. Usures means ‘worn by long use’ and some of their songs are centuries old. Les Mécanos honour the struggles and joys of working people over time. Their singing doesn’t so much polish these songs as give them a beautiful patina.