Maladroit - Freedom Fries & Freedom Kisses (Cover Artwork)

Maladroit

Freedom Fries & Freedom Kisses (2015)

Guerrilla Asso


Punk rock doesn’t always have to be deadly serious despite the sonically aggressive nature of the music itself. Sometimes it can be fun to just sing some songs about pizza or Han Solo. In the case of Parisian punks Maladroit, poking fun at pretty much anything and everything is what you’ll get.

Freedom Fries & Freedom Kisses brings the listener 13 songs of straight-up punk alternating between mid and fast tempos with a good dose of melody. The guitars are crisp and crunchy, and the vocals are going full blast in the mix. The band’s sense of humor shines through on every track as they tackle everything from “Dogs with Bandanas” to “Jennifer Lawrence” with sarcastic jabs abound that would be in line with the likes of Chixdiggit! or Dillinger Four. None of the songs reach the three-minute mark which I think is key for this niche style of punk-comedy.

Despite everything sounding great, this is far from a perfect album. There’s nothing particularly original or challenging going on here; if traditional punk from the 1990s is no longer on your radar then this won’t likely capture your ears. Also, I find some of the melodies to be just a little too nice as I tend to prefer to hear some meaner streaks in my stereo. While the fun, carefree vibe of the record is a nice change of pace, I don’t think it will have the same lasting power as some of the less comedic albums in my collection making it one strictly for every once in a while.

Lastly, with 12 of the 13 songs in English and only one en français, you can leave the French-English dictionary packed away in the depths of whatever box it ended up in after high school.

You can listen to the album here.