The Young Gods (swi)

Back in 1985, it took some nerve to form a trio around a sampler. The Young Gods were never afraid of anything. By creating a novel musical grammar that owes to rock, industrial, classical, baroque, ambient and electronic music, the Swiss band formed by Franz Treichler is still impressively pertinent and consistent twenty two years on. Super Ready / Fragmenté, their dazzling new album, allies power and subtlety in an unprecedented manner, confirming that the Young Gods are more than ever in tune with their times. Adventurers, pioneers and mad scientists, the Young Gods are still an essential reference in today’s music. Mike Patton, The Chemical Brothers, Maynard James Keenan (Tool) or The Edge (U2), all claim the heritage of the young Helvetian gods. But don’t tell Franz Treichler, Al Comet or Bernard Trontin. the Young Gods consider that humility and creativiy go together. The Young Gods constantly reinvent music, whether by revolutionizing samplers in their first albums (The Young Gods and Red Water/l’Eau Rouge), transcending Kurt Weill (Play Kurt Weill), signing their telluric masterpiece (TV Sky), moving away from guitars (Only Heaven), plunging into nineties electronica (Second Nature), ambient in the vein of labels such as Warp (Heaven Deconstruction), or releasing an album influenced by Brian Eno’s generative music (Music for Artificial Clouds). They avoid routine, bounce back, start new challenges and projects, feed their souls and continue the exploration of new territories. In recent years the Young Gods have played with a symphonic orchestra to celebrate their 20th anniversary; re-written the score of the film Woodstock then played it live in Geneva for the Fête de la Musique; collaborated with anthropologist Jeremy Narby (a sonic conference entitled Amazonia Ambient Project); worked with the Musée des Sciences de Genève for the Aquanaute project; and have played some acoustic gigs. These numerous collaborations and projects allow the Young Gods to stay fresh. This is why the new album Super Ready / Fragmenté sounds so rock and filled with energy. The cover suggests a gun, which is a clue to the Young God’s position in today’s world. Treichler, Trontin, and Comet deplore the way in which violence has become a feature of everyday life. Franz explains: “In Switzerland, recent statistics have shown that we can account for the exact number of dogs whereas no one has any idea – even approximately – of the amount of weapons. The Young Gods exist to suggest and share emotions and impressions without conveying a specific message. The three of us believe in the huge suggestive power of music. The violent aspect of the album is our own way of reacting to the current socio-political context.” The twelve compositions on Super Ready / Fragmenté are all tremendously powerful from a sonic point of view. From the devilishly rock “I’m The Drug” or “Freeze”, the abstract “C’est quoi c’est çà”, the playful “El Magnifico”, the psychedelic and moving “Stay With Us”, the “Super Ready / Fragmenté” fresco (nine minutes of an introverted sound journey and pivotal track of the album), the paranoid and Dadaist “Secret” or the bluesy “Un point c’est tout”, the Young Gods deliver a great record, inhabited by Franz Treichler’s warm and powerful voice. Words are of capital importance for the Gods. With the poetic and political “About Time”, the group stands against fear as a marketable value. “Fear is a current signature of today’s world” says Franz Treichler. “How many politicians are elected by selling fear by the ton ?” Or finely describes the relations within a couple with the imaginary “Everythere”. Super Ready / Fragmenté is a major album. It conveys urgency and unrest, and makes for venomous, troubling and passionate listening.