new music: lafayette’s ‘tn motor’ is a killer set of raw garage and indie rock #soundcheck

A duo from Paris named after a French General in the American Revolutionary War records a dirty garage record inspired by the modern urban decay of Detroit in a studio stocked with vintage gear in Nashville. Got it? It probably shouldn’t work. Certainly not nearly as well as it does. But on Lafayette’s 3rd full length, TN Motor, the duo of singer Nathalie Loriot and guitarist Franck Hedin cuts through the contradictions, delivering a killer set of raw garage and indie rock.

Words by Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor

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From the blues stomp of “Keys to the Riviera,” Loriot and company pay homage to the classic Detroit rock sound without sounding like imitators. Part of that is Loriot’s raw, soulful voice which commands your attention. On the the ultra-sexy “Time Out, Dead Zone,” the band teases a climax that never quite explodes, milking a tremolo guitar for every ounce of tension.

The band (particularly session drummer Olivier Ferrarin, who apparently first heard the songs only 3 days before recording them) summons miles of depth from these minimal building blocks. On “Whispering Chains,” they shift between a haunting verse (that opening guitar riff is just dying to be sampled…) and a thrashing chorus. But it’s when they kick in on the uptempo proto-punk “Animals” that Lafayette’s chemistry is truly explosive. The unrehearsed band has a spontaneity that can’t be faked, and when they’re relishing in the moment, TN Motor truly shines.

TN Motor is available here