Supersonic is first and foremost an electric stage that shakes the Bastille district; then the cradle of this French quintet, heir to post-punk, delivering ten impetuous tracks tailored for the live setting.
A stone’s throw from the Opéra Bastille, in a silent street, black doors wedged between two buildings swing open onto Supersonic. A rock-stamped club, an emblematic Parisian hideout where the hottest bands of the moment—from France and beyond—pass through to paint and repaint the genre in every which way.
Chest belongs to that group. And more so, because its five members, who work there, have absorbed the place so deeply that they formed their band there. “In fact, our school is a rock room,” smiles Elliott, the singer.
A Burst of Rage
On its debut album, simply titled Happy, Broken, Chest retraces line by line the time-tested recipe of British post-punk with a present-day tilt. Lotus Eater and Cor thus wield impetuous electric guitars yoked to electronics that inevitably evoke two things: Manchester and some contemporary peers—sometimes tour mates—such as Ditz, Chalk and the excellent Model/Actriz.
Heirs? Surely. But Chest is also a concentrate of its own rage. Happy, Broken is above all built to be felt live, on the “the immediacy of the stage, what makes us vibrate, where we seek energy and freedom”.
Happy, Broken (Howlin’ Banana/Modulor). Release on October 16. Live at La Maroquinerie, Paris, on November 27.
