Review: Sin

Sin
““Noisy Pipes Lovely Noises””
(Koch Records)

It was with more than a small amount of trepidation (due largely in part to the naked, scarred man on the cover) that I gingerly placed this Euro-goth CD into my player.  While the music that proceeded from my Sony speakers was not quite up to Trent Reznor standards, it was nevertheless better than I expected.  Sin is comprised of the tortured (both literally and figuratively) vocalist Franck Renou, who writes lyrics like these from the track entitled “SM”, “It’s your turn to crouch down-There’s no more lessons-When you’’ve got your hands tied”-not exactly a Rod Stewart ditty, but honest and to the point, scary as it may be.  Renou’’s music is supplied via guitars, keyboards, and computers-and here is where the real fun begins.  Rather than committing the cardinal sin of many goth musicians and employing hellish beats that make the muscles in the back of the listener’s head twitch, Renou is content to utilize mostly mellow, computer generated rhythms, allowing the listener to focus on the lyrics-disturbing as they may be.  So if you happen to be at your local “Bondage ‘R Us” store and happen to see this record, you might want to give it a whirl.  Otherwise, be afraid…be very, very afraid.