Something Dirty

This is Faust with Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermaier (another version of Faust is led by Hans Joachim Irmler). The new line-up here features James Johnston of Gallon Drunk on guitar and Geraldine Swayne on keyboards. No matter the incarnation Faust still brings forth challenging sounds that “alternative rock” bands have never come close to approaching. They play as a collective, loose improvisations coming together in solidarity to find the extremes in sound. “Thoughts of the Dead” features whispered dangers. “Lost the Signal” further scales the walls of the haunted house. But tracks such as “Herbststimmung” and “Something Dirty” pull through with consonant tones amongst the craziness. “Je bouffe” shouts like a Brecht-Weill piece gone mad. “Invisible Mending” slides across the tiles with a seducing desperation. The two-part “Dampfauslass” is the sound of the band jamming with Diermaier’s tribal pounding replicating a standard rock beat in the most unromantic of terms and then returning with drones and effects that served Sonic Youth well over the years.

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One of two projects called Faust and featuring members of the 70s Krautrock pioneers offers a new entry into the group's oddly complex discography.

The saga continues on 2011's Something Dirty, the fourth offering from the Jean-Hervé Péron and Zappi Diermaier version of Faust.