Life's a Bitch

 

Neva was a great cold wave band before there was cold wave, truly ahead of their time. The band was the brainchild of Jacquy Bitch. They formed in the fall of 1983 in Saint Quentin, France. The band was originally Jacquy Bitch - vocals, bass, & guitar, Joël ‘Bob’ Bomy & Eric Meunier - synthesizers, & Renee - drums. After a few years, Renee departed & Eric programmed the drum beats as well as manning the synth.

Jacquy was very influenced by bands like Virgin Prunes & Christian Death. Neva’s shows were characterized by a kind of theatrical atmosphere with themes revolving around childhood & death. The mystery of life & its origin were their main sources of inspiration, delving into the unconscious & the attraction of dreams. Another unique feature of Neva’s shows & music was the use of Jacquy’s 'substitute language', a kind of metaphysical compilation served by the invention of a dialect of phonetic sounds combining French , German, English , & Spanish. In my opinion, they were one of the most important bands of the French independent scene of the time. 

 

 

Neva disbanded in 1990. Eric had become more interested with techno music. Both Eric & Joël had veered away from rock & had become quite opposed to electric guitar & bass. By that time Jacquy was playing both guitar & bass parts while the others had become entirely invested in synthesizers . 

 

 

Since then Jacquy has created a solid body of work, releasing six slabs of terse, tense batcave music (The Batcave was a nightclub in London, at Meard Street, Soho, considered by many to be the birthplace of the English Goth subculture. The term batcave is used to refer to Goth music with a prominent post-punk sound & spooky atmospherics) beginning with Frustration, released in 1990, followed by Les Mains du Mal, Coram, Haine, Stories from the Old Years, & his latest, 2012s When Walls Cry that continues his artistic journey with its surrealist language & apocalyptic imagery. Over the more than two decades since Neva he has massively influenced this genre. He deserves to take his place at the top of the European Alternative Music scene.

Here’s the track ''Hérésie'' from that release.

Collector 83 cassette might leave you scratching your  head at first, but the more that you listen, the more you’ll find yourself embracing this amalgamation of weird sounding yet strangely appealing vocals, gorgeous synth layers, & the intense yet sparse drive provided by Jacquy's lone distorted bass. The songs are built around sudden tempo & tonal shifts with Jacquy’s vocals veering from a semi-maniacal speaking style, punctuated by somewhat creepy laughter, into slower, helium-fueled singing. Songs like ''Outlive'' highlight what is so great about this band, with synthesizer & guitar working in glorious tandem while Jacquy juxtaposes his high-pitched frenzy with the song's wonderful stuttered chorus. This cassette isn't flawless, but it sets the bar terrifically high.

 

Neva - Collector 83 cassette, self-released,1987
all decryption codes in comments

Face A –

Psykodrame
Outlive
Killing
Amnésie
Erreur de suicide
Sacrilège
Tam Tam

Face B –

Rêve
Survivre
Cités perdues
Frenezie
Hallucination(single version)
Frenezie(single version)

Enjoy,

NØ