Come with me now, my non-existent audience, on a journey to a far-away world of mystique and wonder. To the land of...
Ultra Chicks: Filles in the Garage! Volume 1
The underground scene of 1960's French all-girls bands? My, that's oddly specific. Well, let's get into it!
1. Claire Dixon - "On m'appelle petit bout de chou" - Nice! Very catchy! Almost sounds like a Beatles song as covered by a French pop-rock band. It has that Merseybeat (as well as Rockabilly/Doowop to be honest) habit of matching the bass drum to the bass guitar for a heavy and bouncy backbeat. This is a great start for the album, and i'm surprised by how much I like it! Now it's stuck in my head...
Claire Dixon, I presume!
2. Liz Brady - "Bas les pattes" - I can't tell if this is Garage Rock or Garage Jazz/Swing... Either way, it's awesome! Really fun, especially with the fuzz guitar flairs that pop in during the chorus. I usually dislike songs with such an emphasis on horns, but the singer makes it work really well. Man, this album is really great so far!
3. Christine Pilzer - "Ah-hem-ho-uh-errr..." - Ah, time for the obligatory Psychadelic-flavored song. This one is kind of strange, but I guess that's the whole point. Anyway, gotta love the awesome music that happens after the chorus, with the great beat and the fuzz guitars! A really lively track!
4. Cleo - "Les Fauves" - Time for the slower song in the album, a change of pace that I usually don't like, but this time it works really well. Pretty catchy, with a simple beat and a talented vocalist. Not bad at all. Also, I think this is one of the shorter songs of the bunch.
5. Laura Ulmer - "Amoureux d'une affiche" - Alright, I think this is officially the most up-beat song I've ever heard. It's like happiness made into music! I kind of love it, but also am kind of inexplicably getting a tooth ache from it. A very fun song, and like the others it's incredibly catchy.
Laura Ulmer and company
6. Christie Laume - "Rouge Rouge" - Not bad, the beat almost sounds like something right at home in the repetoire of a male-garage band back in the states. But it's also kind of awkward, especially the chorus and the following male harmony. Just seems a little strained. Really could have used something in the middle to spice things up, like a tempo change or solo.
7. Charlotte Leslie - "Les Filles C'est Fait Pour Faire L'amour" - An awesome rocker that sounds like the theme song of a TV show about French Mods! Fast and supplemented by a fuzz guitar alongside a beat-style drummer, you really can't go wrong with this one. The slow-down with the bongo solo in the middle was a nice change of pace, and the singer has a great rock 'n roll voice!
Charlotte Leslie
8. Alice Dona - "C'est Pas Prudent" - A groovy crawler with generous amounts of keyboard work. Not bad, but also a bit stark when compared to the previous songs. Still, it's a fun change of pace, and kind of reminds me of a bar/club in one of those cheesy black-and-white drive-in horror movies.
9. Chantal Goya - "Il Court Les Filles" - A really cool song with an odd tone to it. Again, the addition of a deep-voiced male back-up singer is kind of awkward and annoying. I really think this song would have been awesome without all of the bells and whistles. Still, it's very fun, and fits in well with the other songs.
10. Andrea Parisy - "Laisse Tomber Les Tabous" - Another slow crawler that sounds right out of an old black-and-white flick, this time from a classy Film-Noire. Cool, confident, and with a touch of jazz, you can't help but feel classy while listening to this one! I think this may be the longest track of the album, but not by much.
11. Chorus Reverendus - "Dans Son Euphorie" - Another song influenced by Psychadelia, this is a fuzz guitar drenched rocker with cool vocals that work well in harmony, and has just a touch of the early Funk sound to it. I like it!
12. Claire Dixon - "Je N'ai Besoin Que De Tendresse" - Claire Dixon returns, this time with a straight forward pop-rock number. It's good, but a bit bare. Maybe the addition of a dirty fuzz guitar could have had a cool contrast with the clean vocals! Anyway, this one works well enough on it's own.
13. Nicole Paquin - "Mon Mari C'est Frankenstein" - This final track takes it's cues from Rockabilly more than Mod/Beat music, and it works pretty well. I don't speak french, so I have no idea why "Frankenstein" is in the song's title... Still, this one is a great rocker with a female vocalist, more in the vein of Margaret Lewis than Wanda Jackson. Not bad!
Nicole Paquin! Frankenstein not pictured...
Well, that's the end of our journey. I know this album was a little short, but it certainly made up for it with it's abundance of energy! I actually enjoyed this one quite a lot, and highly recommend curious music lovers to give it a shot! I believe you can find songs from this one on youtube, if you want to sample it.