Long live the party

Posted on January 13, 2009 - by Mark Zonda

It’s no secret. I love indie bands. Expecially with a goodlooking naked chanteuse leaning out of the stage moking interestellar orgasm. I don’t usually to to electronic live shows. They sounds too karaoky, fake and lame. No surprises and tecnique at all. “Daft Punk” admitted that while their giant pyramid is drawning in its lava of psycacadelic laser lights during their showsa, they do nothing but checking their e-mail. Electronic live shows equal nonsense.

But for “Vive la Fête” (Belgium) I WOULD do and exception! Danny Mommens (helloooo! dEUS, the band) and Els Pynoo do surely know how to do their job, and they get to grow in the most nearest dirty nasty electronic connubium between “Eurythmics” and “The Ting Tings“.

Even Karl Lagerfeld and Neiman Marcus are fan, so they sure do have got style!

“Danser” – the last song from “Attaque Surprise” (Surprise Records, 2000) – is the manifesto of the debut album. Sounds are simple and weak compared to the following albums. Everything is more rough, but we’ve got ideas, we’ve got attitude. Band seems also to find the time to waste time in some ol’ dixies experiments in songs like “On s’amuse”. “Bonne Anniversaire” spoils the innocence of the band (anyone still in doubt?), just like Grand-Prix singing a Charlotte ode to Serge Ginsbourg.

“Nuit blanche” is basically Ginsbourg on acid. Tracks like the obsessive “Mr. Le Président” would have perfectly fit in the first CSS album, while catchy dance singles like “Maladie D’un Fou” à-la-Superbus or Belanova find the way of sunday-disco dance affecionados (there’s an Italian band called “Il Genio“ who should learn how to be catchy and cleaver at the same time here). “Joieux” and “Jeloux” are two different sides of the same story made by passion and dance.

“Grand-Prix”, the Japanese band, seems to be more than a reference. It’s also the title of the Vive la Fête last album after five years with “Surprise Records” (the band will sign for UWe). If “Grand-Prix” is a random reference, this time Italian “Pop Porno” seems like a pale copy of “Petite putain”, where the band is playing… a pole! Years pass for la Fête too, and “Tu connais la derniere” seems to gather the influences of late indie music crossed with pure 80′s (have a look at Alberto Camerini ‘s”Tanz Bambolina“ and Plastic Bertrand’s “Ca Plane Pour Moi”, yet electro-clones of Mina’s “Una zebra a puà“). “Litanie des seins” is“Prozac+” meeting “Depeche Mode“.

Things seem to get serious with the pretentious “Jour De Chance” (2007). Here we have a band trying to risk everything they had to became the new classic. Goodbye Indie People, Hello Money. “La Route” is a masterpiece. It could seriously be Ginsbourg in the 2yk. You can hardly recognise the band on “Betises” (Loredana Berè‘) while traks like “Quatsch” are puzzling and futile like “Einar Örn Benediktsson” going solo.

2008 it’s time for statements and compilations (“0 Ans de Fête“). Band leaves UWe for “Firme De Disque”. Let’s hope they won’t kill the party. Long live the party.

Vive la Fête – Mon Dieu (Nuit blanche 2003)
Vive la Fête – Petite putain (Grand Prix 2005)
Vive la Fête – Une Par Une (Jour de Chance 2007)

Waiting for our sight:

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