Détective
Détective is James Greer (from Guided By Voices), plus the super-sultry sounding Guylaine Vivarat, who plays in an LA band called Useless Keys and used to play in another one called Tennis System, and Rory Modica, who also plays in Useless Keys with Guylaine. They released an EP in February (here), but Dommage! is not on that. It’s a brand new song, the first one in French, but James emailed me that more is coming up (in May). This is an exclusive track for Filles Sourires! I hear a bit of Barbara Carlotti in it, a little Stereolab, some Peppermoon-ish touches, and Guylaine’s blessed with that happy-to-be-sad-tone in her voice that heroines like Hardy have too. Good start!
Détective – Dommage!
I didn’t expect to discover a decent french tune on my doorstep, but L.A. is nothing if not eclectic! Not getting the Barbara Carlotti reference to be honest, but there’s more than a hint of Charlotte Gainsbourg and (La Grande) Sophie Huriaux.
The (English language) EP isn’t bad – it’s a pretty well crafted piece of contemporary melodic West Coast pop… Must look out for local gigs should they ever venture slightly north on the 101…