| The Honeymoon Killers | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Belgium |
| Genres | Experimental rock |
| Years active | 1974–1985 |
| Labels | Crammed Discs |
| Associated acts | Aksak Maboul |
| Past members | |
| Yvon Vromman J.F Jones Jacob Gérald Fenerberg Véronique Vincent Vincent Kenis Marc Hollander |
|
The Honeymoon Killers were a Belgian experimental rock band originally formed in 1974 by Yvon Vromman, with J.F Jones Jacob, and Gérald Fenerberg. In its first incarnation, the band played mostly in Brussels, was arrogant and funny, and performed massacres on all musical genres, from rockabilly and punk to marching band music, French chanson and free jazz.
The band's original name at the time was Les Tueurs de la lune de miel (i.e. "The Honeymoon Killers" in French). Their first album, entitled Special Manubre, was produced by Marc Moulin for his short-lived Kamikaze imprint, and came out in 1977.
In 1980 the Tueurs were joined by Vincent Kenis and Marc Hollander from Aksak Maboul and completed their line-up with singer Véronique Vincent.
1981 saw the group touring through Europe. Their cover of Charles Trenet's "Route Nationale 7" quickly became a radio & TV hit single in France and Belgium. The band's second album (entitled Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel — the French title of the album being the band’s English name, and vice-versa) was warmly welcomed in Germany, France, and the UK where, unusually for a band which didn't sing in English, they received excellent coverage in the press, including the NME, on the cover of which the band appeared in 1982.[1]
The group split in 1985. Yvon Vromman died in 1989.
Their album Les Tueurs De La Lune De Miel was recently rated "best Belgian rock album of all times" by Belgian rock magazine Mofo, and numbered among the top ten Belgian albums of all times according to Le Vif/L'Express magazine(2008)
Live on stage The Honeymoon Killers often used pre-recorded drum machine loops which were played from cassette, over this they put guitar, bass, drums, trashy percussion, cheap-sounding organ, with Vromman and Vincent taking turns on singing. Some of their songs were extended to 20 minutes with their own brand of dub echo effects.