Just premiered at Veil Of Sound mag, “Full Sentimental”, the newest offering from French band TOUCCAN is bending genre standards all around and comes as a masterful example of warped mathy instrumental, emotive rock that immerses listeners in adventurous twists and turns, but also possesses a genuine air of the feel-good atmosherics.
Touccan is the story of two friends who have always made music together since their teenage years. Growing up they’ve been listening to Punk Rock with bands such as Blink 182 or The Offspring, then to some Metal/Death Metal, to Screamo and Emo Punk. All these influences led them to making the simplest band possible: one guitar and one drum kit. Making good song with only two instruments is a challenge that push them to play with odd rhythms and weird chords. Clovis will bring the emotion and Valentin will deal with the intensity. Is it Punk? Is it Math Rock? No… It’s Touccan!
Full Sentimental. The name itself is a mockery (parody?) of a famous and popular French song. But beside the joke, in this album Touccan is talking about the difficulties of growing up in a meaningless world. And even if most of the songs are instrumentals, it starts with the happiness and innocence of being alive, to the grasp of loneliness, to the acceptance of oneself. So, all the songs are connected and the entire album can be seen as only one big track about self-esteem and self-understanding.
Full Sentimental will be released on vinyl on 8th July and it is a collaborative release by Ripcord Records (check out a bunch of amazing label related features HERE), Sleepy Dog Records, Hell Vice i Vicious Records and Seaside Suicide Records.
“We, Touccan, are a duo made of one drum kit and one guitar, but, despite this minimalist approach to music, it’s a real constraint that pushes us to explore new ways of constructing songs.” – the band introduces themselves.
“Playing with polyrhythms, motley structures and sometimes chords borrowed from Jazz or even Bossa Nova, we deliver a kind of Mathrock rooted in Emo and Punk.”
Asked about the structure of their new offering, the band admits that they wish to communicate these contrasting influences through their music. “It’s one of the reasons why the track’s names are in different languages. Our album Full Sentimental is a piece that can be listened to as a “normal” LP, meaning you can listen to every track separately, or can be seen as a whole, all the tunes being linked together and making, in the end, only one great song.”
Full Sentimental tells the story of a walrus — an animal symbolizing kindness and sweetness — and the steps in the construction of its being.
“Starting with the track “Silky Walrus”, we see him naively discover life, sailing through space where everything seems far away, abstract and calm.
With “Sta Piangendo”, it’s his arrival on Earth which is evoked. Entering the atmosphere hurts him for the first time, causing primitive pain and tears. His speed is exponential, and he’s eaten by the flames. He cries for help and tries to send distress calls without success. He crashes in the water, alone in the middle of the oceans. Although someone heard the screams, that’s not for support.
The song “Commandant Costaud” refers to the preservation of life, whether it’s human or animal. The walrus manages to escape and begins to exist as an individual. His true life commences. A feeling of freedom overwhelms him. He’s ecstatic of everything he sees and discovers, but has no one to share the mosaic of emotions of his. That’s what’s being told in the track “Niemand”. The walrus calls again, seeking someone to communicate and to grow with. But loneliness plunges him deeper and deeper into darkness. His thoughts become inconsistent, and he’s no longer able to distinguish joy from sadness. So he tries to understand the world that surrounds him, and to comprehend himself. “Ca va aller Jacques”, it’s going to be okay… Step by step, his inner voice reassures him. He begins to integrate his solitude, to individualise himself, and not to look back. What matters most is the present moment.”
Speaking about their eclectic influences, TOUCCAN continues: “We have many influences in music and if there are bands that are a bit similar in terms of genre, we also love Hip Hop (especially old school), Black and Death Metal, Screamo of course, but also Funk or even Electronic music. We stick to making what we love to play, but all these styles must have a wee repercussion on what we do.”
“And that was just about music, we could talk hours about cinema or so, but there is a book that deeply influenced Clovis for writing this album and, furthermore, for everything else. This is the Anarchist Morality by Peter Kropotkin, a book in which it is simply stated that you should do to others what you would have them do to you under the same circumstances. “Be strong. Overflow with emotional and intellectual energy, and you will spread your intelligence, your love, your energy of action broadcast among others! This is what all moral teaching comes to.”
