White Circle Crime Club — Written in Black
WCCC is a band from Antwerp and, dare I say, one of the sole hopes of Belgian hardcore / punk for international success and quality music. In the two years between the release of their ep and Written in Black, they have had the time to mature a lot as a band and start writing something more personal.
Written in Black was recorded in the countryside, in a little town called Chimay. It has to be mentioned since Chimay is home to one of the finest beer brand of Belgium (and thus the world), and a trappist beer (yeah, made by monks). You should try the Chimay with the blue sticker.
Erm, back to the music. So no more emo-oriented. Yeah! Apparently WCCC did listen very closely to what was done between 1978 and 1985 both in punk / hardcore as well as in more arty rock music. So what we get is a mix of no wave spastic, abrasive, no nonsense convulsing rhythms and noises, more straightforward noisy rock and almost dancey Gang of Four-esque tunes. You have probably noticed that this mix is extremely contemporary: is it not akin to the music of Rapture or LCD Soundsystem?
The difference is that when the two aforementioned artists have focused on the dance and the party aspects of their influences, WCCC are more inclined to make some noise, as well as developing a rawer attitude. All in all, most of the tracks here are very discordant, messy in a good way, but it’s not like melodies have been forgotten.
It’s not like this is going to be the best album of 2005, but it’s a pretty interesting one, most of all for those who are a bit tired of only having the choice between a boring punk band or annoying dance rock à la Radio4. Other bands are around, and WCCC certainly is not the worse of them all.