DVTR - Live aux Foufounes
Lisbon Lux Records
Released on April 12th, 2025
In the course of covering albums for Cups N Cakes, there are some releases where more than a little bit of imposter syndrome creeps in and I recognize how singularly unqualified I am to attempt any kind of review for a particular record. Live aux Foufounes, the latest release from incendiary Montreal punk duo DVTR, definitely fits into this category. Quite a few strikes against me on this one: I’m Albertan, my French is atrocious, my punk credentials are middling-poser at best, and this album is a live-show recording of a band I’ve never seen perform, making for a bit of an awkward diving-in point. But although I feel a bit out of my league, when I heard Live aux Foufounes for the first time, my first thought was, yes, I definitely need to cover this album. Despite the gulf of language, of geography, of familiarity, something in this record made me sit up and take notice: Here is something special.
Released April 18, Live aux Foufounes is a live recording of DVTR’s blistering sold-out show in December 2024 at Foufounes Electriques in Montreal. There’s also an accompanying video recording you can check out on YouTube, which I highly recommend. But even without the visuals, the audio recording does an exceptional job capturing the riotous electric energy of the show - not as good as being there in-person, I’m sure, but still raucous and captivating even through headphones. The front-duo of Demi Lune and Jean Divorce along with their balaclava-ed bandmates blast the space with frenzied electronic-tinged punk - and the energy of both crowd and band is infectious and palpable.
Punk music is important and compelling for many reasons, but I do have to admit that a lot of punk music just isn’t that interesting. But DVTR, DVTR is interesting. Live aux Foufounes is not derivative or tired or formulaic. It’s fresh and alive and pulsating. The music still contains some of the straight-time fury of punk, with bombastic, short songs played fast and loud. But they are also played really, really well. This mixed in with experimental pacing, instrumentation, and sequencing makes these songs more dynamic and compelling than a lot of the other noise in the ether. It’s hard to settle on any one adjective for this record: it’s dancey, thrashy, noisy, maybe even funky, definitely rowdy, super irreverent and a lot of damn fun. Sprinkle in an array of punk influence modifiers from art to garage to noise to psych to pop, this record has a little something for everyone, while also giving a big middle finger to a lot of others (as per the band’s press, DVTR makes music that is a “simple fuck off to anyone who’d need a reminder before everything burns.” ). Despite missing some of the depth of their message as a result of my own franco–ineptitude, the power and ferocity of Live aux Foufounes makes it obvious why DVTR is making waves and earning accolades in the Montreal scene and beyond, transcending barriers of both language and genre, and making even the most ill-equipped anglophone reviewers sit up and take notice.
