French Girls. French Girls

Party time in garage rock land. Six words are all this album needs, really. French Girls is all enthusiasm, all energy and all fun. Ten songs and all have this mix of 60s garage rock, pop punk rock of the later 70s and a shot of novelty here and there like the faux-Latin "ay-ay-ay" in 'No Morals', adding hugely to the fun and sing-a-long quality of the song.

French Girls is a band without a lot of France in it, although in theory all four could be French émigrés. I strongly doubt it. With names like Che Beret (bass, vocals), Jean Jacques Clouseau III (guitar, vocals), Michel Ouioui (guitar, vocals) and Chiffon Baton (drums, vocals), it suggest more a long upheld joke than something serious. Do not make the mistake to see French Girls as a joke though, as the music itself is anything but. The Phoenix, Arizona based band is a tight outfit, mastering their respective instruments fully and the members are able to come with a collection of great garage rock songs on their debut album.

Great riffs fly by like they were on sale at the local department store. Around the riffs each song has the kind of melody that make the songs simply fly by. 'French Girls' is like a rush, immediate satisfaction guaranteed. If anything the album reminds me of the best punkrock songs Blondie released. The singing has the same intent as Debby Harry's, but with a better voice, not having to become shrill to either catch the notes or to make an impact. The female, male response in the singing comes by regularly as well. French Girls is a far more garage/punk rock band than Blondie ever was. The ballads and more dramatic songs of Blondie's first two albums are missing here completely. (Not to speak of all that happened from 'Parallel Lines' onwards). Even when an intro suggest a slower song to start, it turns out to be an intro in the style of Status Quo, not having to do a lot with the song that follows. My favourite? The intro to 'Whatever You Want'.

To write that all songs are of exceptional quality would be untrue. Relatively seen not all songs on 'French Girls' have the same quality. Luckily so, I'd say, as it makes the truly great songs stand out even more. The quality of this album lies in the fact that it presents sheer energy and fun. As a whole it works some and then some more. 'French Girls' is over before I know it, so I put it on again, to enjoy it some more. It's that kind of album.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and buy 'French Girls' here:

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/french-girls

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g