TRESPASSERS W
AIMEZ-VOUS TRESPASSERS W?
Songs of Life in Death (K7)
Line-up:
Lukas Simonis: guitar, backing vocals
Peter Bos: drums, backing vocals
Cor Gout: vocals, tapes & effects
Ronnie Krepel: bass, recorder, drilling machine, extra keyboards
Frank van der Bos: keyboards, melodica, backing vocals
Guest musicians:
Raymund van Santen: clarinet, alto sax
Frans Friederich: trumpet, tuba
Recording and Mixing by Dolf and Trespassers W at ADM’s Koeinverhuur.
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Reviews in English: 3
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ATERNATIVE PRESS #33, USA, November 1990
by MICHAEL C. MAHAN:
TRESPASSERS W – AIMEZ-VOUS?
This new cassette-only release (French) from the Netherland’s Rock-in-Opposition band, Trespassers W, highlights shorter songs and a distinct sense of humor. This tape, according to vocalist Cor Gout, contains songs recorded during the POTEMKIN sessions and some « live-set » material.
There is a great deal of variety on the sixteen pieces on this tape. As a result, it is hard to pin down any reference points for it. There is a fair amount of torch song style present, but perhaps as it would be done by the Residents. The old Canterbury sound of the early seventies (remember Daevid Allen, Caravan, etc?) is present, but so is the industrial sound of Ministry and Laibach. It all depends on which song is currently scraping past your playback heads.
« Fin de Siècle » sounds like the Residents crossed with early Talking Heads, with Gout’s smooth voice talking us through some wonderful nonsense, including the image of Samantha Fox hopping over a parson’s gate. « Zero a No Go » has Fred Frith’s instrumental eccentricity, with zany lyrics that cross Samuel Beckett with rock and roll clichés. « Ice Cream man » is a fabulous bit of general silliness, something the Bonzos would have liked, performed with a taste of early Mothers and pre-synth Devo.
Then out of nowhere comes « Macht Kaputt », a harsh and hellish German medley with three major components. It starts with heavily driven guitar work from Lukas Simonis, a la Heldon, into an acid rock piece with distorted Jourgensen-like vocals. Ministry meets Mountain. This effortless segues into a Laibachian rendition of a Brecht/Weill cabaret piece.
AIMEZ-VOUS proves that the intense creativity of POTEMKIN was no fluke, and that TW can also operate on a humorous level. Somebody stateside should catch onto these guys and start importing their stuff on a regular basis. Zamla, Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, Daevid Allen, Frank Zappa, and more – these guys have fused it all and it work. (Tape dist. By Underground Productions, 18 rue du Bearn, 69330 Mezieu, France).
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OPTION #35, USA, November/December 1990
by REV. BRYAN SALE:
TRESPASSERS W : Songs of Life in Death
This Dutch band is pretty demented in its own lighthearted way. These songs are not particularly complicated in their structures, but the arrangements are prone to jump about merely from contrived, artsy rock to polkas and other European forms, back to more hard-edged rock. Cor Gout’s singing is reminiscent of Gong-era Daevid Allen in that his delivery is also half-sung/half-spoken and sometimes bounces along in a very sing-songy fashion. The lyrics, mostly in English, are nonsensical, though neither they nor the music are as space-obsessed as Gong. While in the technical sense the music’s fairly straightforward, the loopy humor, the quickness with which ideas fly by, and the general adventurous feeling this music exudes make it a joy to listen to. (Javastraat 27A, 2585 AC Den Haag, Holland).
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GAJOOB TM, web review, 8/14/1994
http://www.gajoob.com/reviews/t/754.htm
by BRYAN BAKER:
TRESPASSERS W, Songs of Life in Death
I remember hearing these guys on a compilation and liking their stuff so this is a pleasant surprise ‘cos this tape more than lives up to the promise of the first impression. But it’s hard to describe Trespassers W’s music. Partly thrash, but cleaner and with a lot more going on musically and much in the way of odd meters and strange sounding scales. The tape is well-paced as well, not just a barrage of crap, but a mix of sounds, lots of humor and great music.