VICTIME are back with En conversation avec, their second long-player dropped on October 25th, 2024 via Mothland. Offering Québec audiences a vibrant if defiant alternative amidst the province’s mid 2010s indie pop-centric music scene, the exploratory rock trio – founded in Québec City circa 2016 by Laurence Gauthier-Brown (Ponctuation, Pure Carrière), Simone Provencher (Album) and Samuel Gougoux (Corridor, Kee Avil) – quickly made waves by way of idiosyncratic releases and frenzied concerts, defending their singular alloy with verve and aplomb. Following a provincial diaspora, the band opted for a more patient approach, a more profound exploration of their credo: making noise atop intricate grooves. And so, with their first release in 5 years, the three-piece apply an even wider scope in researching sonic tensions and openings, in turn aptly amalgamating post-punk, trip-hop, avant-rock, IDM, no wave, noise rock, as well as anything and everything “good” one can hear on the internet.
Introduced to a broader crowd in 2017 with the release of Mon VR de rêve, a scratchy yet dazzling debut EP fusing proto-Sonic-Youth-esque rock with a subversive edge à la Riot Grrrl, VICTIME were right back at it the very next year with La femme taupe, unleashing a first full-length album that’s dripping with post-punk and no wave, while also integrating nods to Lizzy Mercier Descloux’ fascinating work via jumpy metrics and complex compositions coated with their signature slapdash sonic varnish. A few months later, in keeping with their bat-out-of-hell pace, the trio released Mi-tronc, mi-jambe, yet another EP, this one packed with worn out rotating spur gear-like rhythms and complementary dissonance. Imposing, caustic, yet light-spirited, VICTIME were, as of then, at their apogee, performing notable events such as Sled Island, Up Here, Francos de Montréal, FME, and Taverne Tour, opening for the likes of Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Guerilla Toss, Frigs, Ponctuation, and Jesuslesfilles, while also adding tour dates in France. Amidst all this buzz, the experimental rock enthusiasts never failed to strike a balance between calculated risk-taking and unabashed fun.
At the turn of the 20s, VICTIME’s modus operandi changed, giving way to a new approach in tackling their beloved experimental music endeavors. With all members now living in different cities of the province, the band relied heavily on exploration and the spontaneity of sporadic get-togethers, while also demoing remotely, a process spanning 5 years that eventually unearthed their most accomplished work to date: En conversation avec (October 25th, 2024 via Mothland). The trio is now poised to annihilate what few expectations folks might have kept for them, looking to further stretch out their already elastic rock mold, all the while simplifying and expediting their songwriting methods – a logical continuation that celebrates, both their individual pathways and their artistic resolve.
BOOKING: JULIANA@MOTHLAND.COM
PRESS: PHIL@MOTHLAND.COM
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Concerts
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Press
“Quebec trio Victime also impress, singing entirely in French throughout and playing a variety of angular post-punk that harks back to the halcyon era of Delta 5, The Au Pairs, and Kleenex. They’re one of the region’s hidden musical gems we implore you to check out, particularly last year’s excellent La Femme Taupe long player which we track down in the town’s excellent Joubec store”
“ Victime’s debut album is as weird as it is addictive.”
“Victime are a powerful trio that immediately are a hit with everyone in the venue. Choppy Primus/Gang Of Four-esque guitars, pounding drums and manic, shouty vocals from powerhouse frontwoman Laurence Gauthier-Brown; what’s not to like?”
“their energy was infectious, the bass lines lithe and groovy. Singer Laurence Gauthier-Brown was a cool-as-hell frontperson, too, wringing passion out of her bass-and-vocals performance as she alternated between crooning and wailing.”
“By the end of the set it felt like anything could happen, more cowbell, more screaming sax, more breakbeats. I still didn’t feel like I understood what was happening, but I left with a bewildered smile plastered on my face. ”
“This record has a ton of groove to it, really emphasized in the percussive accents to songs, starting with the opener “Herbes et curiosités.” The guitars have their own swing to them, giving an element of added rhythm to the track’s hectic feel. The chaotic feel of the record never dials down, finding new and intricate ways to push songs forward with plenty of exotic moments throughout”
Landmark Events
SHARED STAGE WITH:
Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Guerilla Toss, FRIGS,
Les Marmottes Aplaties, Ponctuation, Jesuslesfilles