Eux Autres
"Cold City" CD
Happy Happy Birthday To Me
Genre: indie pop
Aug 5 2008 |
Hooray for good pop music! Despite their Parisian moniker, brother
sister duo Eux Autres hail from Portland, although they do
occasionally sing in French. Their first album was recorded by
Quasi's Saltzman and Weiss and released by
Montreal's Grenadine Records, and this sophomore full-length comes via
Athens, GA superindie Happy Happy Birthday To Me.
Using relatively simple arrangements - guitar, drums, vocals, and
occasionally keyboards - they've mastered the art of breezy,
infectious indie pop music. Cold City is packed tight with lush
choruses and hum-worthy hooks, as is best
evidenced on album highlights "Molly" and "Graceful Exit." To me,
these songs have a prettiness that is close in spirit to Canada's
Young & Sexy; their songs only occasionally rev up the guitars
(francophone "Gratte-Ciel," "The Town that Never Ends"), and they make
great use of the dynamics between Heather's cute voice and
Nicholas' tunefully masculine singing. At the same time, they also
exude a youthful energy not distant from the better parts of
Boyracer's discography - this is best exemplified in the zippy
guitars and "da-da-das" of "Park Bench Vacation."
And to top if off, they also know their way around a dreary pop
number: "Anne Boleyn" may be slow, but it's still majestically lovely.
Eux Autres have added to the HHBTM's recent string of
success (Keith John Adams)
with Cold City. This is a remarkably well-assembled pop album that
fits among 2007's best
indie releases.
eux autres'
myspace
86%
youuuuuuuutube!:
"anne boleyn" video
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 10 tracks,
31:21, distributed by
the
label,
released 2007] |