They don’t tour Germany and they don’t play garage music, but the Feeling of Love do create music from seemingly twisted inspirations. Scampering once again from their bunker in the small French town of Metz, they’ve taken all that was bang-on with their last LP, OK Judge Revival, further obsessed on repetition, and contorted it with a heavier psychedelic sway. In short, Dissolve Me is good.

With the band committed to finding the “trance,” the keyboard has pulled up its odd socks, and the monolithic drums relent nothing as they succeed fully in reaching a state of abstraction. But the reverb is what makes your head feel like someone is blowing up a balloon in there. You’d not be unique in thinking you’re drunk upon listening to this, although you know full well you are straight as an arrow and haven’t touched a drop or powder of nothing. This album reminds me of the endless times I’ve had to use walls to walk in a straight line.

Opener “Cellophane Face” is a standout no doubt. A lovely teeter between Spacemen 3 and Roger and the Gypsies’ “Pass the Hatchet,” it’s obviously taken very strong cues, but works absurdly well nonetheless. It’s a knockout surrogate beholding an excellent result of two such oddities colliding.

On title track “Dissolve Me,” it sounds like the hand reaching for a guitar accidentally snatched a raygun, and the drums thud along with a relentless charge. If sloths could play instruments and held a penchant for reverb—and just happened upon chance to listen to Suicide—this would be their encore song. And somewhere along the way a pack of cheeky French rascals started a mutinous sing-a-long. It stomps along in a strangely sluggish way, and then you’re left imbibed in their chanting vocals.

Lyrics of the past have included rape, torture and jailbait, and it’s a pleasure to hear that they still remain negative and perverted, although that’s apparently debatable. So while they pummel you with the means to get your knees twitching, don’t overlook that they are indeed talking about strangulation via plastic bags, your mum’s dress, and your dad’s pants.

Fettered by money, the Feeling of Love members still reside in Metz, a town beautifully historical, but not one you’d presume has residents itching with anticipation of what is bashing about in the space krautrock circles. But it is environments like these that beget pleasure for us. It’s progressively harder to blaze trails these days, but it’s invigorating when a band lets all the wonder previously heard ferment, allow it to rot for a petite stint, then head to the studio. The Feeling of Love are hitting their stride, albeit a brazenly mischievous one, but most definitely a rousing one.

A highly amusing exchange of emails produced the following answers and mind’s wanderings from singer/guitarist Guillaume Marietta.

So, the new LP is coming out soon. Tell me about it.

Guillaume Marietta: It’s our third album. Its name is Dissolve Me, and it’s out on Born Bad records for Europe and Kill Shaman for the USA. The artwork is made by our friend Sylvie P. It’s an album about death, about the absence of feeling like a drug. It’s also about the highway.

Where, who and how was the recording process?

GM: It’s the first time we record in a studio. We used to record by ourself in the past—lo-fi stuff, home recordings—but J.B. from Born Bad said he got some money for a studio, so we said “yes,” even if we were scared to do it that way. We recorded 13 songs in four days, and I think the sound is not so bad. Next time we’ll stay one month in a studio, doing nothing, getting drunk, and fight with each other.

Momentum seems to be a big element in the new songs. They thud along with the primitive style drums and the repetition is relentless. Was this something you really wanted to extend on from OK Judge Revival?

GM: Yes, exactly. But it’s a natural evolution in our music. Repetition is the main thing in the Feeling of Love from the beginning. First we took it in from the blues, now we move on to psychedelic stuff. We are really into stuff like drone music, primitive music and pop. We’re looking for the trance.

You guys have some pretty bangin’ new videos too. What were the ideas behind those?

GM: We just gave a free hand to some friends. They could choose the song they like and do whatever they want.

Did your eyes get tired from all that blinking on cue?

GM: No, our drummer Seb is naturally high on speed.

A fan commented that the “Numboy” video was like “psyche vomited guitar dove into a black hole tunnel” (or something to that effect according to Google translate). I wish I had thought of that description first. Pretty accurate right?

GM: Yes. We like black holes.

I went to Metz a couple of months ago. It seems a beautiful, historical city, and environment often plays a big part in defining and creating sound. What about Metz urges your music?

GM: Did you really go to Metz? Why are you still alive? This city is so boring, but I don’t know why we cannot escape. It’s a black hole. The life in Metz is boring, sad, repetitive and grey—like our music.

Plenty of bands move to bigger cities in their musical endeavors. What binds you to Metz?

GM: Metz is still cheap. We don’t have enough money to move.

Do you have lots of fans in your town? And how does your music go down in such a place?

GM: We don’t have so much fans. Actually, we don’t know. People who come to our shows in Metz are friends. We don’t feel really connected with the people in our city. We are only connected with the bad mood from Metz.

The genre “garage,” in all its incarnations, seems to be in a healthy state at the moment. How do you think the Feeling of Love sits amongst other bands and do you think it is a good time to be playing music?

GM: We don’t care. We just play the kind of music we like. But yes, it’s a good point that labels and people want this kind of music now. It’s easier to tour and put some records out. But in three years it will be over. Anyway, we don’t play garage music. People who are really into garage music don’t like us.

Your lyrics are at times a little perverted. Where does that come from?

GM: I don’t think they are perverted. I just try to say “I love you” in different ways, I guess.

You are about to start a tour shortly. Songs like “I Am Right and You Are Wrong” give me the sense that they are going to go down well live. Excited?

GM: Yes, because this time we don’t play in Germany. Nobody loves us in Germany.

I especially like your comprehensive diagram and notes for your rider and set-up. A lot of effort seems to have been put into it. You are a very professional band. Does it work? Do you always get juice?

GM: Did you really check our rider? Who are you?

What happens when the cheerleaders eventually get drunk?

GM: They move after the show with some other guys from the audience or members from the other bands. Sorry.