Parisian
lounge-mods
further
the
“pop
moderniste”
sound
on
their
second
EP, a double
7” no less!
Following
last year's Les Chats de Gouttière
EP, Paris-based
boy/girl band French Boutik get even groovier on their latest double
7” single. Ici Paris
is an more assured and confident take on the mix of lounge, beat and
mod-ish sounds that made the band's first EP so welcome and
refreshing.
The
five piece group, whose musical taste is as sharp as their clothes
and haircuts, personify retro cool while documenting the trials and
tribulations of la vie moderne. Their sound is rooted in the '60s, as
best demonstrated on lead song Ici Paris, the
first of three French language songs and a track which would sit
easily on La Belle Epoque,
EMI's compilation of '60s French girl singers.
Though
my schoolboy knowledge of the French language has mostly faded from
memory, the odd phrase or sentence cuts through. On Ici
Paris vocalist Gabriela Giacoman
sings of a tenant (and her cats) fighting against a greedy landlord
and the soulless desires of city planners. This theme of the underdog
is echoed on Facile,
an uptempo floor-filler which rallies against big business.
Pousse
Au Crime has a spy movie vibe
about it with some neat organ and guitar chops. As on the
band's last EP there's a token English language track for us non
bilingual rosbif. Kinky Alumette tells a tale of trying to get
to a band practise during a Paris Metro train strike. Groovy
retro-pop done with flair and humour. As with the band's previous 7”,
it's a lovingly designed and packaged affair, and well worth a spin
on anyone's Dansette.
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