French Shoegaze, Dream Pop & Noise Pop, a quick guide, Vol. 2
In our Volume 1 you discovered / revisited Welcome to Julian (90’s), Dead Horse One, Stuck in the Sound, Venera 4, Soon she Said, Automatic Fiction, Candelabre (see our collaboration) and the Sigh (90’s).
You are here again for a other musical treat, as we continue to introduce you to some of the fantastic bands that France has (had) in our favorite genres. This second volume, like the ones to follow, includes past, present, big and small bands in no particular order.
First a big thank you to Elisabeth (Kill the Moose), Margot (Tapeworms), Michel (Lucie Vacarme), Evol (Dead & Nothing Collective), Yann (Marble Arch), Pierre (Dead Mantra) and their bandmates for taking the time to ensure that their band’s information was accurate.
LUCIE VACARME (90’s)
Lucie Vacarme, from Toulouse, is one of the main and most influential French Shoegaze (called ‘Noisy Pop’ then) band of the 90’s. This the first recorded musical experience of Michel Cloup, known for having worked in one of the major bands of the French scene of the 90s, Diabologum. They disbanded in 1993.
The band was known for their saturated and hazy sound, at the limit of the audible, especially in concert (those of Toulouse and Bordeaux in the first part of Lush were known to have caused tinnitus).
Despite the support of Bernard Lenoir (the French Equivalent of John Peel), Lucie Vacarme did not break through.
All readers of ‘Les Inrocks’ knew the band even if it was not easy to get their CD’s. I for one had the CD’s copied on tape as I could not get the CD proper (always out of stock when I looked). Unfortunately, I have lost the tape since unfortunately.
The band had more influence on the limited ‘Noisy Pop’ French musical scene as the time that they think. Many bands (my band Smiling Marianne, The Sigh, …) knew Lucie Vacarme’s music and we were inspired by some of it, if only to know that French bands could make such great music. Milkyway was to our opinion one of the best Shoegaze album around. Thanks guys.
There is a little story as Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) featured on the band’s album, as detailed in Michel Cloup’s interview in ‘Soul Kitchen’
“We sent our first EP to Thurston Moore. He sent us a postcard back. We had suggested to Kim, at the time when they recorded ‘Dirty’ to make a featuring on our song "Kelly Kiss". She did it over the phone with a very bad sound and accent. Fortunately, we wrote her name on the booklet and people were able to know she featured”.
One of their songs, ‘Souffle incandescent’ features on DKFM ‘Shoegaze classics and rarities vol2’ that can be found here on Mixcloud.
The band’s lineup was:
David Amsellem : guitar, voice
Michel Cloup : guitar
Patrice Bellanti : bass
Valery Lorenzo : drums
The music work is as follows:
1990: Metalvox, EP
1992: Milkyway , Album
1993: Audioscope, EP
Some of the songs we love:
ALCEST
The presentation of the band on Wikipedia tells us that Alcest is a French Post-Metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (Stéphane Paut). It started in 2000 as a Black Metal solo project by Neige, soon a trio, but following the release of their first demo in 2001, band members Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member.
In 2009 drummer Winterhalter from Les Discrets (and formerly Peste Noire) joined Alcest's line-up, after eight years with Neige as the sole full-time member.
Since its creation, Alcest has released five studio albums and a number of EPs and split releases. Their fourth album, 2014's Shelter, marked a dramatic shift towards a distinctly Shoegaze sound, however their latest album Kodama marks a partial return to their earlier Blackgaze sound. The band are widely credited with pioneering the Blackgaze/Post-Black metal genre, particularly through their EP ‘Le Secret’ released in 2005.
Alcest's fourth effort, entitled ‘Shelter’, was released on January 17, 2014 via Prophecy Productions. It features a guest appearance by Neil Halstead (Slowdive). Stylistically the album is a radical departure for the band, dropping all traces of metal from their sound and fully committing to the Shoegaze side of their sound. Neige later said in an interview that
"We are proud of it, but I think it was maybe a bit too influenced by other things. I really was obsessed with Slowdive at that time. Shelter still sounds very ‘Alcest’, but maybe not as much as the other records.”
On January 22, 2019, the band announced that they would start recording their next studio album the following day.
The current line-up is:
Neige – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards (2000–present), drums (2000–2009), bass (2001–present)
Winterhalter – drums, percussion (2009–present)
The current live musicians are:
Zero – guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
Indria Saray – bass (2010–present)
The music work to date is:
2005: Le Secret (2005, re-recorded version in 2011) EP
2007: Souvenirs d'un autre monde, Album
2010: Écailles de Lune, Album
2012: Les Voyages de l'Âme, Album; BBC live session
2014: Shelter, Album
2016: Kodama, Album
2019: Spiritual instinct, Album
Some of the songs we love:
NøTHING COLLECTIVE
The Nøthing Collective is a Collective of like-minded French bands within the Shoegaze / Noise Pop / Altrock / Dreampop genres. They include an extensive lineup of some of the best current French artists.
They present themselves as follows:
“No matter where, no matter who and no matter how. What matters is the sound. What brings us together is the desire to have one. What binds us is the will to defend it. What we are passionate about is the desire to reveal it to you.”
The bands part of the collective so far are: A V G V S T, Future, Dead, Dead Horse One (see our Volume 1), Marble Arch (see below in this guide), Maria False, Saintes, Seahorse Hunter, Still Charon, Venera 4 (see our Volume 1), Beat Mark, Cavale Blanche, Des Roses, Giirls's facebook, Hermetic Delight, Mara, The name of the band, San Carol, Shadow Motel, Soft Blonde, Volage, Tapeworrm (see below in this guide), La Houle, T/O, Bank Myna, Good morning TV, Big Wool, Soon She Said (see our Volume 1), Brace! Brace!, Son of Fonos, That Green, The same old Band, Boy Head, Soon, Beat Mark, Boreal Wood, Maara, My lovely underground, Shadow Motel, San Carol,
The compilations that include the bands above to date are:
2013: We want nøthing more than nøthing #1
2014: Songs from Nøthing #2
2015:nøthing #03, nothing #4
2018: nøthing #05
There are too many songs and bands to choose from and we invite you to look / listen to their Bandcamp page and enjoy the quality and variety is contains.
Needless to say, Nøthing Collective was one of our main resources to source great bands for this Guide. More bands form the Collective will be included in the next volumes of this guide.
MARBLE ARCH
As stated on the band’s social media, “Like the white marble monument -located on the West end of Oxford Street- from which the group borrowed its name, Marble Arch was cut for triumph. Having perfectly digested Shoegaze and Dream Pop's secrets, their music has been oriented toward childhood and experimentation.
After the first DIY record, Yann Le Ravazet had some time to think about the musical tone and sounds of his new record. He didn’t want it to be labelled Shoegaze nor Dream Pop. As a matter of fact, we’d be more likely to hear reverberated pop (Remeniscence), saturated pop (the infectious song “I am on My Way”), nostalgic pop (Moonstruck), synthetic pop (Instant Love) or even contemplative pop (Gold).”
The band has indeed evolved between the first and second album, though still into the music world of reverberation.
Les inrockuptibles (the French NME) did a very good interview of the front man from which this is extracted:
“In 2014, we discovered Yann Le Razavet with ‘The Bloom Of Division’, album entirely designed by the light of his bedside lamp.
Under the name of Marble Arch, the young musician flew far away from the noisy shoegaze of his first band, Maria False, and delivered many of titles full of foggy nostalgia and twilight lyricism.
Full of an elegance and finesse rather rare in France, ‘Children Of The Slump’ is without a doubt a very good record, and even when wholly mustering our critical mind, there is not much at fault.”
Band Members are:
Yann Le Razavet, vocals, guitar and keyboard
Thomas Tan, Lead guitar
Adrien Vernet, guitar, backing vocals
Thomas Beilles, Bass
Danny Kendrick, Drums
Music work to date
2013: echidna, EP
2014: The bloom of division, Album
2016: The Sand, single
2019: Children of the Slump, Album
Some of the bands’ songs we love:
KILL THE MOOSE
Kill The Moose is an alternative rock band, strongly influenced by the British Shoegaze scene of the early 90's.
It was founded in 2015 by Elisabeth and Alex, in Nice, on the French Riviera. Kill the Moose is a concentrate of noise energy mixed with melodies that remain in the forefront. The songs are ethereal, pop and sweet, drenched in a wall of sound, full of reverb and distortion, with the beats of a deep bass and powered-up drums.
Note that the name ‘Kill The Moose’ is not a tribute to Shoegaze's British band ‘Moose’, but a reference to a Monty Python piece.
The lineup is:
Elisabeth Massena, Vocals
Alex Ornon, Guitar
Alexis Fedunizin, Bass
Nicolas Bonnet, Drums
Arthur Arsenne, Guitar
The music work to date is:
2017: Demo #1
2018: Good Girl EP; The World Is Your Oyster EP; Contented Eye (Adorable cover); To The Moon And Back EP; Suzanne (Moose Cover)
2019: Into My Arms (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Cover)
Some of the songs we love:
DEAD
Dead is a Coldwave / Noise / Electronic band from Rennes. Their music errs more towards the Early Cocteau Twins and The Cure (disintegration period). Their combination of synth waves and reverb guitars give a beautiful cold and dark feeling.
The band present themselves as follows:
"What more can you say about a band called DEAD that hasn’t already been made abundantly clear at first glance?
The fact that these French mercenaries of noise can conjure up such a powerfully dark aesthetic before even hitting a note is impressive, but when they finally do, they unleash a far more potent beast entirely. If DEAD aren’t already mapping out the future destruction of the planet, they’ve sure as hell written the soundtrack.
Bleak, confrontational, but with a firm command of rhythm and deep grooves, this might be the dancefloor antidote we’ve been waiting for."
The line-up is:
Berne Evol, vocals
Brice Delourmel, guitars
Bernard Marie, drum machine & keyboard
Musical work to date is
2012: Transmission, EP
2014: Verse, EP
2016: Voices, Album
2019: Dreams, EP
Some of our favorite songs from the band:
TAPEWORMS
Tapeworms is “3-piece rock band, mostly eating French fries, listening to Smash Mouth and watching Evil Dead. From Lille, they're trying their best to produce some noisy, dreamy, aggressive but kind music.”
An interview in Section 26 summarizes the band in a few words: ‘Do It Yourself’ is in the DNA of the band, which is outlined in the former student room of Theo, when they have fun with Margot covering Sparklehorse or Drop Nineteens on an online beat box, with an old cassette player as recorder. Eliott, used to play with his big brother, then started on the drums "We began to rehearse my grandmother’s attic. Tapeworms is really born at that time, fed with her pies and 90’s music. " Tapeworms has a shoegaze sound, noisy pop, immersed in the tradition of the 90's.
The band members are
Margot Magnière: Bass, Vocals
Théo Poyer: Guitar, Vocals
Eliott Poyer: Drums
The music work to date is:
2016: All Stars, EP; Tapeworms, single; macadam star, single.
2018: Everything Will Be Fine, long EP
Some of the songs we love:
DEAD MANTRA
Dead Mantra were created in 2009 in le Mans. The define their music as being “Gregorian Shoegaze”. They are part of the record label Cranes Records with Dead Horse One
The inrockuptibles give a very good overview of the band’s sound
“The maliciously saturated guitars sneak around a powerful rhythmic base. From this wall of sound, a veritable ice-cold and cavernous maelstrom, pierce the dark and delicate dark-pop melodies of The Dead Mantra. Young Manceaux, spotted by the Cranes Records label, stand as worthy French heirs of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club for swirling psychedelism and The Jesus & Mary Chain for shoegaze violence. Perfect harmony between devastating fury and sinuous writing.”
The lineup is:
Paul, guitars and vocals
Pierre Hamelin, drums
Louis, guitars
Henri, Bass
The music Work to date is:
2018: Saudade Forever, Album
2015: MXEICO Remixed
2014: Nemure, Album
2012: Split EP with Dead Horse One
2010: Path Of Confusion, EP
Some of the songs we love to discover the band:
For once we include a Music Video as ‘Mxeico’ is a genuine original piece worth watching and listening. As a warning, it contains male nudity.
