Everyone Was In... // Norwich Arts Centre - 11.02.10
Everyone Was In The French Resistance...Now! - live at Norwich Arts Centre.
As with most days in mid-February, there are ups and downs, both musically and otherwise. Let me warn you, when ordering elderflower cordial, it tastes far better with still, not sparkling water. And let me also warn you: don’t get too excited about Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now! That exclamation mark is very misleading. Makes you think they’ll be fun.To begin at the beginning, a seven-strong crowd are treated to the sound of Grenouilles – while they didn’t quite set the tone for the rest of the evening, the Norwich-based outfit definitely leave the, erm, intimate crowd with high expectations for the rest of the night. With a guitar-violin-piano, two men-one girl combo, they managed to make something that could have been rather obvious sound unique, performing the kind of ballad-esque songs you would kill to have written yourself.
And the backing singer – oh, the backing singer. Alison Rogers has a voice as sweet and haunting as Ophelia’s ghost and an appearance to match. Between her violin and her voice, it doesn't seem physically possible for her to hit a bad note. Collectively, they are exquisite. Imagine the Editors' Tom Smith on holiday with a folk band. Imagine Mumford & Sons with beautiful harmonies. Imagine that... then become addicted to Grenouilles.The Lovely Eggs, then. Looking and sounding like The Ting Tings after their inevitable mental breakdown, the Lancaster duo of David Blackwell and Holly Ross bring a comedic edge to proceedings, while also being obviously good at what they do. The crowd, growing by the song, enjoy their insane antics, including songs such as, ‘I Like Birds But I Like Other Animals Too’, ‘I Want To Fall Off My Bike Today’, and their finale, ‘Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordion?’, which consists of a list of activities one might have partaken in, all rhyming with 'accordion', and culminating in the claim that if you’d never done any of these things, you will burn in hell. Delightful. Los Angeles' Everybody Was In the French Resistance...Now! consist of Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame, dressed like a low budget game-show host, girlfriend, Dyan Valdes from The Blood Arm, and a guitarist who looks fresh from a 50s jazz band. Everybody… have the credentials and the crowd – now grown to a decent number… albeit of middle-aged men.
Their whole concept of their 'Fixin' The Charts' album is based on the fact many pop songs have major flaws in them – Kanye West’s ‘Golddigga’ is apparently offensive to chip shop workers, Martha Reeves was very cruel to write that song about Jimmy Mack, Michael Jackson really should have stuck with Billie Jean to avoid parental confusion for her son in the future, and so on.
Eddie Argos also seemed to have a rather irrational hatred of Avril Lavigne. Yes, fine, she tries to steal other people’s boyfriends. Does that really make it necessary to start not one, but two songs with the phrase, “Avril Lavigne is a bitch,"? And would you please, please turn that guitar DOWN? We can’t hear a single word, and we’re pretty sure the lyrics are fairly important, considering you’re a parody band and all. The main problem is this: they didn’t know whether they are tackling serious issues light-heartedly, or just having a laugh. The lyrics aren't witty. Half the time Argos is simply preaching to the audience.
Musically, it's fine, if not a little predictable. And perhaps we're too young to understand the inside jokes, or maybe, just maybe, they're simply too contrived. It could have been good, really good – the idea is an excellent one – but, like so many boyfriend/girlfriend bands, they only seem to amuse each other.
Rose Morgan
