Black Strobe

One-time French electro-gothsters Black Strobe first hit the radar back in 2002 with the international club hit "Me and Madonna,” a song that cast the band as a sleeker, darker Fischerspooner. The track was remixed to death and catapulted core member Ivan Smagghe to the forefront of the electroclash DJ circuit. Since then, Smagghe has left the band, seemingly taking any hint of promise along with him. From this 2007 debut album, Black Strobe fancy themselves something of a rock band with pretensions toward Norwegian death metal. They dress up like Queens of the Stone Age for their press photos but while cowboy shirts may look good and Norwegian death metal makes for a cool tagline Burn Your Own Church comes nowhere near backing up such superficial gestures. Rather, it gets stuck somewhere between a lightweight Rammstein and T. Raumschmiere’s 2005 reputation-smearing Blitzkrieg Pop. Limp on arrival, Black Strobe’s long-awaited debut album is an embarrassment.