FAT SUPPER - Academic Sausage

10 songs
37:31 minutes
***** ***
Les Disques Normal

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I have to admit that my first run through Academic Sausage, the second album by Fat Supper from France, wasn’t an easy one. The quartet from Rennes plays a kind of music that is really hard to categorise, even their own descriptions do little to elaborate things. Noise rock, garage, pop, grunge and hip hop have all left their traces in this strange yet ultimately rewarding cocktail that comes across as a very scratchy kind of garage blues. Fat Supper quote Eels, Grinderman, Deerhoof and Pavement as influences, which kind of makes sense, but I could also have lived with a hybrid between Captain Beefheart and dEUS.

The ten songs rarely play by the rules, and while this may scare off the more fainthearted listeners, it also means that the album will have a more lasting appeal than the average. There is a constant challenge between the grimy and noisy guitars on the one hand, and the very dominant rhythm section. A first highlight I want to draw your attention to is the short Smell with a strong bass line and a certain gangster flair. The hoarse vocals, despite their ragged performance, always maintain a sufficient level of melodic approachability. The album’s heart piece is the five and a half minute long Surrogate which comes with the best bass line in ages and a really cool organ that once again adds a pleasant retro feeling.

Academic Sausage is a demanding album, but in the end one that will give you loads of fun. Fat Supper’s brand of noisy garage blues rock may not be modern, but it definitely is timeless, which is in itself a virtue. The production skilfully finds the right balance between allowing the instruments to retain their grittiness and giving the overall sound a clear, transparent and powerful quality. Not an instant winner, but it will grow to your heart!