It takes very little for me to enjoy French-speaking musicians, hopeless Francophile and that I am. A few years ago my little sis burned me a couple Mara Tremblay discs. I played them so often I knew the words, even if I didn't know what they meant. I even made the mistake of playing them for a few French friends while I was living in Ireland. They rolled their eyes and began berating French Canadians (and here I thought they were all friends). So when I heard a track by Montreal's Le Husky on local BC radio, I e-rushed over to eMusic and downloaded Chanson Moderne pour Cyniques Romantiques. It's an album I will recommend, whether you are Francophile or non.
The album picks up and grabs you by the lobes from the second song, "Mourir comme un chien" (track one is just an intro). With the tempo initially set by the synth (Eric Shaw), the drums come stomping in and set a solid 4/4 beat that I guarantee will raise your pulse. It's one of those songs that made me slide back into the couch and say, "this is good. This is really good." In fact, I just gave it another spin.
However, an album is not the sum of its beats. A good album is balanced, robust, and perhaps even a little mysterious. Chanson Moderne is just such an album. Yannick Duguay's multifaceted vocals--feverishly desperate on one track, subdued and coy the next--compliments his supporting band instead of overshadowing it. A good thing, too, because it would be unfortunate to eclipse these musicians.
While a couple tracks seem to channel either Blonde Redhead or Kylie Minogue with their "la la la" refrains, the album as a whole succeeds. Tracks flow from one to the next, but branch into subtly different tempos and tones. The transition from "Dans l'bois" to "Lettre a Vanessa" is a perfect example. The former is a Cure-esque ballad of heartache, while the latter is a seedy-but-playful tune easily at home in a smoky basement club on Paris's Rue Oberkampf.
In fact, about the only negative thing I have to say about Le Husky concerns the design of their My Space page: transparent boxes with floral background is a bad idea if you want people to be able to read about you. I know David Carson said "don't mistake legibility for communication," but at the moment there is precious little of either. And while there are no blog entries yet, I'll be checking back to see what the band is up to. Maybe little sis will translate for me.
You can buy the album on eMusic, Amazon, iTunes, or you can be more indie than me and buy it from Zunior.com, a Canadian digital music store. Support your local. And check out more from Le Husky's label, Grosse Boite.
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