French three-piece Crëvecoeur ('broken heart') produce a cinematic soundscape with this their first release. Instrumental from start to finish (with the exception of a few lines from a Speak and Spell toy) there are no obvious signs of 'Frenchness' in the record but a definite tilt towards dusty roads, spaghetti westerns and Mariachi music. And there are also the rather obvious clues in the song titles such as 'We leave the ranch', 'El Matador' and 'Singing on a Dead Horse'.
'We leave the ranch' does vaguely hint towards a European flavour with its intro but then the horns break in to join the Spanish guitar and any pretensions towards cafe culture and smoking Gauloises fades away. 'The gasman and me' sounds like Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez could be lurking just around the corner, or Serge Leone is pulling the strings behind the scenes. This is the strength and maybe also the weakness of the album. If you don't like those old movie soundtracks then you are unlikely to like a collection of pop songs based around them. Even the brief interlude of 'L'equarisseur de songes' with its OK Computer era Radiohead style ending can do little to hide the fact. But if like me you are a fan, then '#1' is a real soundtrack treat.
--Tasty Fanzine
;)
GALLERY:
MP3s:
La Pieuvre, by Crëvecoeur
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