Power To The People
Louise Distras is a popular person here at R13, so it is no surprise that we were ecstatic to hear she was releasing her debut album this month, Dreams From The Factory Floor.
For those that have not had the pleasure of crossing paths with Louise's music before, she has a power that rips right through your soul and when you combine this with the emotive lyrics that pack a punch you end up with highly charged songs that make a difference. Dreams From The Factory Floor brings together 12 tracks that all follow that pattern. It is good to see the mix of acoustic and electric guitars being used as each add their power to the tracks accordingly. It is punk with an acoustic guitar, the messages are clear and strong from the sticking together anthem Stand Strong Together to The Hand You Hold which deals with female rights and Not In Our Name an angry anti political track that would not be out of place on any of the greatest tracks of our times albums. And if one of the songs message is not one you particularly care about, well the music is bloody good so it's a win / win situation.
The title track is a brave move, an 80 second spoken word poem full of venom to those that deserve it. A true fist in the air moment.
There will be obvious comparisons to Frank Turner by some. Give me the choice of seeing Louise Distras in a smaller venue or Frank Turner at a large arena and I will pick Ms Distras every day of the week - yep the live shows are that good.
2013 has already been a busy year for Louise Distras, gigs up and down UK including Glastonbury, Europe and now about to head off to Canada to play with The Mahones. With Dreams From The Factory Floor now hitting the shelves (that is if online shops have shelves) then it is going to be a great finish to the year. As you may have noticed, we cannot recommend going to see one of her live shows highly enough and now we can add this album to the list of reasons for loving Louise Distras talents.