Tempête Écarlate

Tempête Écarlate''' is the fourth POM2 studio album from alternative punk band Spanky Revolution, released Spetember 4th, 2012 on Cookies & Biscuits Records. The album also saw a release on POM Records.The album's first single "Speak White" was released on August 7th, 2012 along with a music video. It was the last album released before the band went on hiatus. The title means "Scarlet Storm" in French. '''__INDEX__

Production
On June 30th, Spanky Revolution released Poneycore, an energic punk album with pop, hardcore and alternative influences. After this album, the band decided to focus on making more melodic and atmospheric music. One of the first song of these sessions was "Lips Like Cancer", a long, smooth and slow track that was a complete departure from what the band was doing at that point. The sessions proved to be harder than the ones before and the band was well aware that they could not get a finished product before long. They therefore decided to release "Lips Like Cancer" to the fans along with their 15 best tracks on the band's first Best Of compilation. At the end of the year, the title and the cover of the album was revealed, although most of the work was still to be done.

After a couple of shows, the band decided to isolate itself from the rest of the world to fully concentrate on the album. Most of the writing and the recording was made in February 2012 at the Cookies & Biscuits Records Studios. The members of the band ate and slept in the studios and went out of the place only if necessary. They also shut all the curtains to have as little contact with the outside world as possible. This situation created tension in the band and on some occasions, they could spend hours alone in a different room. The band recorded hours and hours of material, sometimes complete songs that would go to scratch and sometimes they would simply jam together and find something interresting.

After twenty days, the members of the band decided to take a one week break and get out of the Studios. They then listened back to everything they had and rerecorded some parts. In June, the band had eight finished tracks.

The last recorded song was "Here Comes the Revolution III", which is mostly made from improvised jams. The band invited Spectre, with whom they have collaborated very often in the past, to make a 40 seconds cameo on the track. Unlike Poneycore, where the band found themselves collaborating with many artists, this cameo is the only moment on the album that Spanky Revolution did not wrote nor performed.

Sound of the album
Unlike the previous work of Spanky Revolution, Tempête Écarlate is more alternative and ambient. While the album includes some short punk moments, it also contains several longer tracks with experimentation and long jams. The tone of the album is way darker than anything else they did at that point. Also, while Poneycore included many collaborations, this album only has a forty seconds appearence from people outside the band (Spectre on Here Comes the Revolution III).

The album is also special for the use of dual lead through most of the songs, something that the band almost never used before. This new technique allowed the band to include more melodies and to have a cleaner sound at certain moments.

Packaging and Release
On August 8th, the band revealed the first single of the album; "Speak White ", along with a music video. Tempête Écarlate was released on September 4th, 2012 on Cookies & Biscuits Records. It was the last album released by the label who went on hiatus for about 15 months. To prevent this closing to ruin the visibility of the new LP, Spanky Revolution decided to also release the album on POM Records five days later. The move proved to be succesful, as much more copies of the album were sold by POM Records than by C&BR.

The picture taken for the cover art of the album was taken by the band in Jonquière, Québec and features the reflection of the city on a river, with the picture being upside down. The picture was then altered to give it a scarlet hue. The album contains an extensive booklet, mostly with pictures taken by the band and descriptions for every song. One of the picture in the booklet was previously used for the cover of the Riot single.

Critical and Commercial Reception

Since its release, Tempête Écarlate reached Silver status. It became their seventh consecutive LP to achieve this.

In a very positive review, Monocle Reviews gave a 9,25/10 note to Tempête Écarlate and described it as "dark, heavy and loud, yes, but it's also a genuine joy to listen to and an album that surprises you at every corner. In short, it’s Spanky literally doing what he wants. And it’s great." The album was also called a "classic" by Sons Of Seven Less.

Track Listing
All songs composed by Spanky Revolution, except for "Here Comes the Revolution III", which features a 40 seconds jump from Spectre.

Spanky Revolution
Étienne: Drums, album booklet

Eric: Bass, cover, album booklet

John: Guitar

Steve: Guitar

Production
Mixing by Spanky Revolution

Mastering by Some Mean Octopus

Legal: Some Guy Agencies

Booking: The Corner

Conversion: AgentOhoolahan, Etrius and Slashsslayer