Albinos Congo is a Nantes, France-based collective led by founding members and creative masterminds Tristan D’Hervez and Pierre Stroska that features a rotating cast of about a dozen of Nantes’ best players. Although they cite glam rock and the Beastie Boys as major influences on their sound and approach, their sound, which they’ve dubbed Romantic Neo Space Punk, features elements of pop punk, hip-hop, psych rock, grunge rock, garage rock, shoegaze and even krautrock.
The French collective’s latest single, the bombastic, Brit Pop meets krautrock meets space rock-like “Space Jam” is an improvised jam that the band recorded and a mixed about a week before heading to Spain to tour for their debut EP. Centered around fuzzy and distorted power chords, blown out boom bap-like drum beats, an enormous arena rock friendly hook, bubbling and gurgling synths and falsetto vocals the track as the band explains was partially inspired by Remy Zero‘s “Save Me” and by the 90s classic Space Jam. (Unsurprisingly, the song openly references ET — but in a sort of parallel universe in which ET joins the Toon Squad and helps save the world. Would Warner Brothers allow that kind of crossover? Who knows? But imagine the possibilities, man. The possibilities! Additionally, while the song is trippy as hell, there’s hope for a world of universal acceptance.)
Directed by the band’s Tristan D’Hervez, the recently released video for “Space Jam” features the members of the collective performing the track in a smoke machine-filled studio and strobe lights but ET makes an appearance wearing a Toon Squad jersey. It’s defiantly DIY and trippy as hell.
