FRANCOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS

E Volo Love
Domino

There is a playfulness and a naivety on E Volo Love, the most recent release from Bristol-via-France quartet, Francois & The Atlas Mountains. It is nostalgic guitar pop from a band not taking itself too seriously. The drums are laden with ramshackle energy, the guitars with jangly reverb and the whole thing is teeming with handclaps, percussion and vocal harmonies.

What separates E Volo Love from the scores of other retro-leaning indiepop albums of the moment is the album’s sophisticated arrangements. Francois augments his clear, classic song writing with dozens of additional instruments, from perfectly placed electronic flourishes to majestic waves of strings and brass.

Particularly in its latter half, E Volo Love brings to mind The Dears’ 2003 No Cities Left, not so much in its actual sound but in an approach best described as ‘genre tourism.’ E Volo Love traverses a wide number of styles, Muddy Heart is a country stomp, Slow Love is retro-disco and City Kiss is an ‘80s pop ballad complete with a cheesy George Michael sax line.

In every case, the genre writing is clever and respectful and never strays too far its tropes. Francois & The Atlas Mountains will never unpick a style like a genre-native may be able to, but they have a sense of excited discovery and naive charm that is joyous.

Score: 3.5/5
_HENRY ANDERSEN

xpressradio by X-Press Magazine

NEWS

DEMOLITION MEN

Steal some green dye for your mohawk and put a safety pin in your eye, because seminal UK punk band Subhumans are heading over for their first ever Australian tour. Featuring the 1981 line-up that recorded their debut EP Demolition War, the band has been busy in recent years with releases through Fat Wreck Chords and their own label Bluurg. They drop into Amplifier for a show on Wednesday, September 12. Tickets go on sale through Oztix on June 15, so you might want to set a reminder...

ANXIETY ATTACK

New Zealand’s first most popular musical pop act named after a Michelle Pfeiffer movie, Ladyhawke, is gearing up for a big 2012 with her second album almost ready to go. Known for her gems My Delirium, Paris Is Burning and Back Of The Van from her ARIA Award winning debut album of 2008, she returns with her new album Anxiety on May 25. She then takes the album out on tour and will play her first WA show since Southbound last year at The Bakery on Tuesday, July 24. Grab your tickets from Handsome Tours from tomorrow, or head to ladyhawkemusic.com for presale information.

[MORE NEWS]

FASHION

GARTH COOK

Countdown To Perth Fashion Week

The inaugural Perth Fashion Week is fast approaching, and established Perth designer Garth Cook is counting down the days to his standalone show on Friday, April 20, at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Though he’s currently full of enthusiasm for his forthcoming Spring/Summer 2012/13 collection, six months ago it was a different story entirely…