Aidan Curran posted on November 15, 2008 18:00
Until quite recently, all we seemed to hear from the French alternative music scene was shy, poetic acoustica. Now that seems like years ago: today it's wall-to-wall indie-disco-pop.
We mentioned Paris pair Housse de Racket a while back, and New Yorkers The Virgins are having huge success here with 'Rich Girls'.
The best of the home-made groups strutting the alt-pop dancefloor is Tahiti 80 (right). From Rouen, where Joan of Arc was made toast, this foursome have just released their fourth album. And they've called it 'Activity Centre' after the Fisher Price toy from back in the day! (What with Minitel Rose, there's a definite '80s nostalgia vibe about French indie these days.)
Anyway, 'Activity Centre' is a smashing album, full of soulful pop, sweeping string arrangements and jangly chords. Lead singer Xavier Boyer has a pleasant voice and bass player Pedro Resende keeps it funky from start to finish. All in all, great stuff. If you can't find your Curtis Mayfield or Orange Juice records, they probably ended up in here.
Tahiti 80 also embody one of pop's greatest clichés. Yes, they're Big In Japan. It's all thanks to the cult figure of Cornelius (maker of the wondrous 'Fantasma' all those years ago), who put the lads on a compilation album a few years ago. Their track, 'Heartbeat', duly became a hit. Now they can't go down the street in Tokyo without being beseiged (probably).
From an album packed with potential singles, which you can hear on their MySpace page, Tahiti 80 are currently enjoying huge airplay with 'All Around'. As if the song itself wasn't already likeable, the video is quite charming too - unless you're a hamster:
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