In the southern part of our country, there is a lively punk revival centred around a number of healthily edgy bands. Playful alt-noise rock band marcel is the most striking representative of this new Walloon wave. Since 2021, this foursome from Aarlen has been making extremely generous music that situates itself somewhere between the Dead Kennedys, Talk Talk, Nina Hagen and Jacques Dutronc.

marcel has a distinct preference for poetic, chilling lyrics about the strangeness of our earthly existence. They effortlessly balance on the fine line between the sublime and the absurd, between Brueghelian populism and Poelvoordian chaos, and excel in a bastardised, experimental, unorthodox form of punk that will appeal to both your anarchist grandmother and your 12-year-old, rather right-wing nephew.

Their second album was released in early 2025 and was produced and mixed by Ben Hampson (Lambrini Girls, amongst others). Over the past year, they presented that album all over Europe and even in the UK. By the way, the title ô fornaiz is old Walloon for ‘ooh, you damned fire’, as if you were sharing a bed with a flame that burns you while it sticks its tongue in your ear.

Don’t worry if you can’t make head or tail of this, we can’t either. But according to Eurobarometer, 76% of adults who have seen them live profess to experiencing a tingling, tantalising joy. We can wholeheartedly confirm!