Drawing back a bit from the intensity of the live From Lausanne Switzerland, Swiss emo-punks
Favez strike a balance between that album's electric edge and the quieter, more acoustic songs on the two studio albums that preceded it.
Bellefontaine Avenue shows the group branching out musically, opening the excellent single "Emmanuel Hall" with a long, churchy organ solo before launching into a spirited, downright poppy song with a more hopeful vibe than much of their earlier work. Elsewhere, "Times Were High" adds an almost psychedelic haze and a hard-rocking '70s boogie riff, "It's a Hit" recalls the tongue-in-cheek pop of early
Weezer and "Heavy Metal 10" has the goofy parodic charm of
Teenage Fanclub. A varied and smart album,
Bellefontaine Avenue has the strength to break the European quartet beyond their still-miniscule American following. ~ Stewart Mason