The French check reality in cyber-pop zeit

When the sun is (relentlessly) out at a weekend a line from an old song rings so true: ‘To be in England in summertime…’ Well, losing cricket matches, nation’s footballing icon sold as if we don’t need heroes, another strike ends, another ‘Pop Idol’ series starts, the charts are ruled by the Americans and more soldiers die in Iraq, the talk of phantom Weapons Of Mass Destruction continues… PM Blair is buddy with Cliff Richard and should resign on sole account of a foul taste! Man, the drugs are wearing out…

Lounge-core is the order, shaken not stirred and with a twist… The French, that is Darren Hayman and John Morrison, two former members of Hefner, are responsible for this debut album, ‘Local Information’, of an eclectic nature that tells tales of life behind the lace curtains of suburbia. Placing the CD in a tray one’s eyes are caught by a title, ‘The Wu-Tang Clan’: time and accommodation may change but the essence of loneliness doesn’t to strangely remind us of Elvis Costello’s ‘Watching The Detectives’, thematically – without actually sounding anything like it.

The French’s musical expression is minimalism that is mainly created electronically but they manage to make it sound less industrial and/or alien, but poppy, with a catchy melody; this is not run-of-the-mill and although it combines a fair bit of styles to make it hard to dose it into any one category, it’s still mainly ... There is ‘The Stars, The Moon, The Sun And The Clouds’ that is folky-pop the way Stephen ‘TinTin’ Duffy likes it with his Lilac Time.

Pastorality, the cyber-pastels of mid-paced (tired commuter’s speed?) are guided into strange settings where world of ‘Swastikas’ and ‘too much wine’ co-exists. Complexity of living in a multi-racial city where each race knows what’s the best… ‘Canada Water’, ‘The Pines’, ‘Nest Building’ are songs that use cyberism although it is still strictly a songwriter’s medium. In other words, very polite, insightful and observing to the detriment of the wilder side.

‘The Day You Arrive’ combines Krautrockist basis with multi-layered vocals that sound like Beach Boys on crack! ‘Gabriel In The Airport’ displays a wicked sense of humour as this is a song about a couple of former Genesis members, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, mixed with some domestic and British Airways scenes but of the most upbeat inkling.

A very pleasant record that brings fresh spray to the décor without altering any architecture; we’ve been in this chamber before, it is a TV-reality studio we call living…

In the global mind decaying – not quite friends but not only acquaintances.

7/10