Various Artists - Paris Calling (Because / Bonus Track)
3/5
By: Sofie Jenkinson
If 'ou est le singe?' and 'je suis un poisson' constitute the extent of your French language skills (despite your GCSE in the subject), then fear not. This Parisian compilation, compiled of seven different bands, is made up of largely English language tracks; youthful and ready to change the world. For around 40 minutes, you're transported to the grimy streets outside Parisian gig venues, down small alleyways where the smell of fresh bread still lingers on the pebbles. The punk and rock'n'roll intentions of this project are apparent in the name alone.
Scruffy chic, draped over a chair surrounded by a think plume of fragrant smoke, it's skin tight jeans, it's birds nest hair and it's smudged eyeliner. Ah yes, a familiar picture is being painted and it was not too long ago that this was considered cover material week-in, week-out at NME and is certainly not a world away from the sticky leather sofas of the New York scene. You only have to flip through the sleeve notes to not only step back in time, but see these smudge eyed little faces staring up at you, although a bit of French would probably aid you in reading it.
Opener 'Lick My Boots' by Second Sex rattles into all old school guns blazing, but manages to offer up something quite tasty in all the right places. They are, unfortunately, the only band not featured on the CD twice. Les Shades, who get two cracks at the whip generally smack of all this post-Britpop thing, a thinking man's Doherty, and other reincarnations. It is, however, their understandable and apparent lack of Britishness that gives it the edge it needs.
It is a shame, some might say, that only one French language track graces this little package with its presence. The Hellboys 'Besoin De Rein' ('Need For Nothing') slams out from across the glistening short sharp guitar bursts, reminiscent of things before, certainly, but punctuated with all the passion of a gritty French 'Rrr' rolling off the tongue.
Brooklyn, who appear at both ends of this compilation, offer up a platter of neat guitar manoeuvres under swaggering and self-assured vocals, only slightly tinged with an accent. Both tracks 'Heart Lies' and 'Clandestine' appear to be the most accessible of the lot, in the sense that they wouldn't seem out of place shimmying up the chart over here; catchy, vigorous and dance-worthy, a world away from the glorious mess of some of the tracks and the downright feeble shambles of others.
There are two ways of looking at this, a phoenix from the flames of a glorious British and American past of such sounds or a music scene desperately playing catch up, producing some semi-decent tunes along the way. At the end of the day, however, there is no shame in being influenced by the past, and there is certainly some fire in these lions. Maybe the French will be the ones to add some ooh la la into the rotting carcass of Rock'n'Roll.
Artists in this article: Various Artists
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