O Veux

***The Flemish Region of Belgium is unfamous for its punk, post punk and Coldwave music in the 1980s, and yet a trove of bands like AA, The Cultural Decay, and Kebab came up in Flanders and self-released small runs of their own music. Another one of these unfamous bands was O VEUX. In the early 80s four unemployed guys from Hasselt, Belgium sought out raw, progressive music in order to escape the boredom of their daily lives. Heavily influenced by the Hasselt music scene, a breeding ground for left-of-center groups, the guys decided to form their own band. In the spring of 1982 O Veux released their first 7" called Akinai on the label Sexy Robot (AA, the Cultural Decay). With the influence of the spastic skronk of New York's No Wave scene with bands like Liquid Liquid, Bush Tetras and James Chance, O Veux began experimenting with a decayed sort of funk: relentless slap bass, harsh guitars, and vocals that rendered their throats raw. In December 1983 they recorded Just a Slit 12"(1985). Although O Veux's lo-fi recordings were an integral part of the band's identity, they decided to change direction in order to gain a wider audience. They signed to a small independent label called Stoker Records and released Heat of the Flesh in 1985 and Gunman's Beat in 1986. This new sound adhered to their old formula of upfront rhythms, pulsing bass, and dynamic vocal melodies, but with cleaner production. O Veux now issues two self-titled archival releases; one via softspot music, and a second version with a completely different tracklist via Belgian re-issue label OnderStroom Records. The softspot release will feature O Veux’s complete studio recordings from 1982-1986 with additional unreleased tracks. The OnderStroom compilation will be comprised of live and unreleased recordings from 1981-1982, never before released on vinyl. Both versions are limited to 300 copies.