Introducing… Bête Noire

Here at Bearded we aim to shed light on acts who don't necessarily have giant labels or muscley budgets waving banners behind them. This Introducing series will focus on artists who we think are great, regardless of how much hype surrounds them or where their origin story lays.

Bio
Name: Bête Noire
Location: London, UK
Genre: Post-punk
Similar Artists: Idles, Bauhaus, Savages
Contact: Facebook, Twitter
Events: Playing The Enterprise, Camden, November 7 and The Macbeth November 21

Comparative toddlers of the post-punk scene, Bête Noire haven't even been together a year. Channelling the guttural, doom-riddled rage of '80s legends like Joy Division or Magazine, the LDN fivesome are part of the post-punk revival revival trend that's currently exploding – Savages, PINS and countless others are all making headway with twists on the well-worn genre, and that's exactly what Bête Noire are doing.



On the band's debut tracks – 'Shut Your Mouth' and 'Out and Proud' – they set the bar high. The former has a whiff of Editors, though with crocodile-sized bite. There's myriad guitar brutality, and the aggressive Interpol-esque motorik, chugging along underneath the delirious chant of: “Just shut. Your. Mouth.” is the sound of a much more established act. They're tight. The latter cut is another hulking slab of singalong vitriol punctuated by squirming six-stringers and the intricate rhythmic relationship between drums and bass. “Just turn around you filthy fuckers!” is a mantra you'll be growling to yourself for the next six weeks.



There's a dark, menacing swagger within their sound. As basslines canoodle with serrated axe licks, the throbbing confidence of vocalist David M. Hargreaves may as well be socking you in the gullet. The quintet have a propensity for loudness, bitterness, anthemic pop hooks and malevolent magnificence. Watch out for Bête Noire.