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I first knew of Metal Urbain when I saw their first single on display in a record shop in Paris as a traveling teenage hippie in 1977. There was no more room in my backpack so I did not buy it. But I wondered, what could it be...? When I got back home to Colorado, I learned that the very same Metal Urbain single had found its way to America and my friend John Greenway (who later co-wrote "California Über Alles") already had a copy. John had the strangest, most non-rock taste of any of my friends and said I must hear this band immediately. "Panik" on Side A was very angry punk, but not like any punk we’d ever heard before. I loved the screaming synth noises and the pissed-off French lyrics. I could not understand the French, but it completely destroyed the idea that the French could not rock because the language did not fit the music. Now French was a fiery punk weapon. But the real shock was the B-side, "Lady Coca-Cola." It was not really punk, more an attack of pure noise. Maybe a little Heldon/R. Pinhas, but more like being attacked by dentist’s drills coming out of the stereo—wow! These guys weren’t just different, they were insane. I wonder what Jean-Michel Jarre fans thought of this. In San Francisco, I found a short interview in the greatest of all punk ’zines, Search and Destroy. "Panik" translated was more political and militant, even frightening, than most other ’77 punk bands. "Why do you sing in French?" "So the Americans can’t understand us." I liked the attitude too. More singles came: "Paris Maquis", "Hysterie Connective", each one better than the last. Metal Urbain was not just the outer edge of avant-punk, but a great rock and roll band. Hungry, we waited for the album, but it never came. Like many of the great punk pioneers, fire, emotion and conflict blew up the band way too soon. Others picked up the torch and made France the only place in the world with a long tradition of drum-machine and electronic punk-rock bands. As far as I’m concerned, Charles de Goal, Kas Product, Ludwig von 88, and Berurier Noir, and even America’s Big Black owe their very existence to Metal Urbain. So imagine my surprise 25 years later to see Metal Urbain advertised to play a small club in San Francisco called the Hemlock. I went to the show, half-expecting to see some stupid yuppie indie-pop band that had stolen their name. No, it was the real thing. Even now their music confused many people in the crowd. V. Vale from Search and Destroy was there too, so we gave them a friendly "Hello Hello" to let them know there were people who remember. Then they returned to the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, with great new songs, and a new synth wizard named Jerome who seemed to have lit a fire under the whole band. Metal Urbain was no longer nostalgia, but once again a band of the future. I am surprised and honored they asked me to produce their new album. It seems more like Metal Urbain were my mentors than the other way around. I knew we would need Matt Kelley to engineer since he is great with sounds and a master of electronic and hip-hop sounds in his work with the Coup, Hieroglyphics, Digital Underground, and George Clinton. The new songs are fantastic: no filler, at least as good, if not better than the original 70s classics. We all agreed not to restrict ourselves to make it sound like the old Metal Urbain. Times have changed, technology has grown, and this music matters now. I think there is something good here for fans of many things—from the old Metal Urbain to Turbonegro or Ministry. From Berurier Noir to Atari Teenage Riot. The music, the sounds and the friendship with the band have all been a great experience for me.

Jello Biafra

My Profile:http://www.icewhole.com/MetalUrbain

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