ZapTown

Everybody Was in the French Resistance… Now!
Fixin’ the Charts, Vol. 1
Cooking Vinyl Records
Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Links:

Everybody Was in the French Resistance..Now! homepage: http://everybodywasinthefrenchresistancenow.com/index.php
and on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/fixingthecharts
Cooking Vinyl Records: http://cookingvinyl.com/

Oh my.

Everybody Was in the French Resistance… Now! is very interesting to say the least. I don’t mean “interesting” in the way a kind person describes their weird neighbors. EWitFRN is a rather talented and intelligent duo, made of members of other alternative art-pop bands. Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame, and Dyan Valdés from The Blood Arm, form a terribly cute and endearing band, recording some of the sweetest retro alt-pop I’ve heard in some time.

Everybody Was in the French Resistance..Now!’s Fixin’ the Charts Vol 1 is a fantastically crafted piece of work. When I hear the adjective “Art” used to describe bands, such as Art Brut and The Blood Arm had been described to me, I usually cringe and refrain from listening until the last minute. “Art-” anything, to me, other than when used to describe punk or metal, usually describes really bad music. Not “cool” bad, but “your drunk uncle hitting on you again” bad. That being said, I’m glad I gave these folks a try. Their songs are played with a primarily storytelling style, not too far removed from Joe Gideon and The Shark (see their album review, too). Simple 2-person melodies carrying all-too-sweet pop tunes with serious responses to mindless pop tunes.

To be clear, Fixing the Charts, Vol. 1 is a theme album. To avoid simply repeating the bio notes from their home page that explains each song individually, suffice it to say that EWitFRN set out to record responses to the stories relayed in 12 pop songs. But sometimes the songs are just abstract versions of the originals. Confused? Take the example of one of the greatest and most highly acclaimed singers of our modern time. Now forget her entirely and consider pop tart Avril Lavigne. Not to say that Avril Lavigne invented the notion of stealing someone else’s girlfriend, but she made a few pennies off of singing a song about the topic (In related news, check out the copyright conflict with her song “Girlfriend.” Interesting). Salaciousness sells! In her song, as well as many others that have become popular as of late, the act of “stealing” a boyfriend from another girl is celebrated. In Fixin’ the Charts, Vol 1, the band sees to it that this topic is addressed with mature responses. “G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I’ve Got A)” doesn’t make for good gossip, but it does say a lot for the bonds that tie good couples together. The song, while serious and mature in nature, does not spare the infectious pop tunes in its own right. Check out the refrain near the end, and check out the video for the song on their website.

Other tracks of note are “My Way (It’s Not Always the Best Way)” – their response to Sinatra’s “My Way,” and “Think Twice (It’s Not Alright),” their response to a Bob Dylan song.

RIYL: Joe Gideon and the Shark, classic rockabilly-doo wap, etc.