Les Fossoyeurs

Les Fossoyeurs (self-released) There are dead live albums, and then there are live live albums. Leave it to a sweaty pack of elder Frenchies whose name translates as the gravediggers to understand the difference exactiment. Just a few days after throwing down a series of off-the-hook shows in Kansas City this past spring, the inimitable Fossoyeurs headed south and recorded a peasants' revolt of a performance at the Outland in Springfield, Missouri. As the crowd on this well-mastered recording affirms, language is no barrier when it comes to Les Fossoyeurs' eclectic rock and roll. Even though its bass player was wheelchair-bound the entire tour (following a skiing accident), on this recording the band bounces with hard-partying determination and grace from punk to blues to ska to slinky clarinet-laced Parisian street waltzes. Locals Joey Skidmore (guitar) and Jazzbo (trumpet) lend support, but it's clear that the only thing Les Fossoyeurs really needs is a bigger American audience.