The Francophile New Yorkers of Nous Non Plus have given us American indie rock sung almost exclusively in French. Many hip musicians have long been obsessed with the nation that gave us both the pencil and duck-vomit cracker spread.
On its second album, Menagerie, the six-piece Nous Non Plus expresses a desire to “imagine Gainsbourg and Bardot as indie rockers in 2008.”
The French lyrics and boy/girl vocal interplay between singers Jean-Luc Retard and Céline Dijon (sardonically assumed names, of course) helps boost this gutsy comparison. But outside of the ye-ye vocals and French lyrics, the band doesn’t much resemble swingin’ ’60s Paris as much as your average indie pop group, which works to the band’s benefit.
The album’s highlight, “Thief Like Me” (one of just three songs on the album with an English title), is a rush of vintage synth-pop a la Ultravox, or, more contemporarily, Cut Copy or Chromeo — all analog blips and skittering disco drums over a gut-hitting descending chord pattern.
Opener “Loli” is a great take on late-period Jam white-boy R&B with great call-and-response rhythm breaks. “Sunlight Yellow Noise” is a gorgeous folk-funk duet between Dijon and Retard that features organ and arpeggiated guitar.
Nous Non Plus does a good job of balancing its goofy schtick with a serious approach and a rather sonically diverse tracklist; the album starts off with rockers but ends on sunny afternoon acoustic numbers such as “Le Dandy.” But even though the best parts of Menagerie work as a great unexpected confection, it’s one that has more than lost its flavor by the end of the album.
– Joel Cusumano
Nous Non Plus: www.nousnonplus.com
Aeronaut Records: www.aeronautrecords.com