Sean Trane
One Shot is one of those French Zeuhl band that benefits from a semi-legendary status, despite the band being only around for slightly more than a decade. The wild instrumental quartet (lead by American guitarist McGaw, keyboardist Borghi and bassist Bussonet) released their debut album in 99, and followed-up with two more albums throughout the next decade. As the title of the present disc might indicate, the present album is a re-melting of their debut album (the only available version nowadays), some ten years after its original version, because they thought that the recording process was somewhat perfectible, but it’s not like we’re about to get an over-produced and slickest album, quite the opposite..
OS’s instrumental soundscape is a typical Zeuhlian product, one that owes still to the Kobaian band, but clearly shows its personality. You will instantly recognize the French paw, despite a certain propensity of McGaw at splashing his incendiary guitar solos at the forefront. Aside McGaw’s guitar pyrotechnics, you can only be impressed at Bussonet’s pulsing bass and Borghi’s excellent Hammond and Rhodes exhibitions, while Jeandheur’s drumming is aptly responding at his musical pals’ adventures. Despite the renovation of the original recording, the album has kept a very immediate in-your-face almost-jammy rawness that characterizes One Shot, much of it, courtesy of McGaw’s bleeding guitar. Generally the music flies around the speed of sound, but there is a fairly welcome rest in the 10-mins with Un Jour Dans l’Est, where Borghi’s Rhodes reigns king above all, before Bussonet’s Riff Fantom just sends the album into Neptune’s orbit, especially with Jeandheur’s awesome drumming performance. Added as a bonus on this remixed, remastered and repackaged Reforged version of the album, Fleuve is a cool bonus track (a real one), but definitely jazzier and “cleaner” in terms of sonics.
Clearly Soleil Zeuhl’s captain Alain has again dropped a very timely bomb in the Zeuhl microcosm (he just stroke another major blow with the reissue of eider Stellaire’s debut album), but it’s not like the very-involved nature of One Shot’s Zeuhl music will draw big sales. Nothing to revolutionize the Zeuhlian world, but along with early Eskaton or Stellaire, this is the kind of album that perpetuates the legend of the genre, but beware that this gem is un-carved.