“You can’t understand the accident,” reckoned legendary English philosopher Francis Bacon. “If you could understand it, you’d also understand the way you were going to act. But the way you’re going to act is unforeseen.” As pretentious a reference point for a 21st century rock band that nugget of wisdom may be, it’s latched onto by wildcard Gallic collective The Psychotic Monks as they combine abstract purpose and unhinged improvisation on mercurial second album Private Meaning First. The results are (un)predictably never less than engrossing. Picking up where they left off with fascinating 2017 debut Silence Slowly & Madly Shines, this nine-track collection saw them decamp to an isolated farmhouse in the French countryside to play off the isolation and claustrophobia of life in l...
