Cheval De Frise

I'm not exactly sure how I found this band. I've been listening to their self titled album from 2004 a lot lately. It was released by Sickroom Records in Chicago. I possibly heard them on Brave New Waves as they did have one song played on the show. I know I ordered their album from Insound so it might have been a random pick based on a preview description. I have no idea. Sometimes you just stumble upon things.



Much like I don't recall how I found out about Cheval De Frise, I don't know all that much about the band either. I think I'm fine with that. Sometimes it's better to not know things. Keeping a sense of mystery is important. What I do know about the band is that they are from France and have broken up in the years since I bought their album. They were the duo of Vincent Beysselance on drums and Thomas Bonvalet on guitar. They were strictly instrumental and played a frenetic style of math rock or post-rock, whichever you want to call it. They remind me of a more straight forward version of Hella, not that what their playing is all that simple or anything. Remember that post-rock didn't always mean that a band sounds like Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai. I know artists hate being labeled or pigeonholed at times, but sometimes a singular description is so perfect that to deny it seems wrong. It's probably easier to pick something and stick with it instead of trying to blend a little bit of everything together. And from my personal point of view, if I label a band as one particular genre that I like, take it as a complement because I meant it as one.

For more info:
Cheval De Frise at Last FM