In 1977, the difference between British and French underground music scenes was that Britain had one. The British and American punk movements had the relative luxury of building upon a decaying rock scene, whereas French punk rockers Metal Urbain had to build their own scene from the ground up. Influenced by the sounds of Hawkwind and Iggy Pop, but mainly by the anti-naturalistic author, Oscar Wilde. Metal Urbain set out to play rock and roll with machines while carving out their own chaos-inspired niche in a French alternative music scene they predated by nearly 30 years.
Now, after a 25-year hiatus, MU’s “anti-music,” while gaining wider acceptance, still defies comparison and can best be described as a painterly pastiche of slogans, beats and synthetic noise (their percussion and bass are 100% synthetic). However, unlike much of what has come to be called “industrial music,” MU emphasizes the guitar sound and is totally at home on the stage.
MU’s combination of intense guitar and provocative lyrics is calculated to provoke a response from the audience (a goal since the beginning) while escaping the normal rock formula. The lyrics are typically expressed as simple words and phrases, not sentences – a simple way to escape formulaic song-writing. Using Brion Gysin’s cut-up method or omitting verbs for a signature effect gives MU a unique style of expression intended to make the audience think, often about politics. Their non-didactic message allows the audience to take what it will from the music, but a fringe benefit is that topical MU lyrics from the seventies are still pertinent in 2004.
In the late 70s, MU’s anti-naturalist sound was shocking, especially for French hippies who felt that MU had “spoiled their dream.” And though contemporary musicians may have caught up with the concept of mechanized music, MU feels the pressure is on to say something new with this formula. The music of the new millennium, in their opinion, too often lacks lyrical content or any message, and is linked to money and corporate sponsorship.
With a new genre of electronic “hippy music” to react against, the time may be ripe for MU’s plan to release an album of new material, their first in over 25 years. With a live DVD and a follow-up tour of North America on the horizon, MU hopes to carry on the reactionary tradition of punk rock while inspiring “some youngsters to give [MU] a kick in the ass” by finding new anti-music formulae and rocking harder.
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