My lil' Poni
Back with more hot, dirty French musique... this time courtesy of a five-man army known as Poni Hoax, made up of Nicolas Ker (main vocals), Laurent Bardainne (composer/keys), Arnaud Roulin (keys/bass), Nicolas Villebrin (guitar), and Vincent Taeger (drums). Together they make some awesome rock music, flavored with disco, new wave, a dash of Smiths/Morrissey, and modern post-Daft Punk Parisian dance music.
Their new self-titled album was released in Europe a few weeks ago, for which there was a release party at Nouveau Casino, that featured a live set by the band, as well as a live set by Joakim (ne Joakim Bouaziz) - this is an important point, because not only are they friends and part of the burgeoning Paris scene together, but because Joakim played producer and engineer for the Poni Hoax album. His own tracks are laden with sick live drums and drum machines, squeaky vocals, and amazing, wobbly live bass (see "I Wish You Were Gone" on his Myspace page, or "Teenage Kiss" on the Kitsuné X compilation for reference) - Joakim's production hand is pretty subtle as a part of the Poni Hoax sound, but is still noticeable. And good.
Anyway, the Poni Hoax record is a really solid listen, and I'll highly recommend it, especially for someone wanting to get into the new-Paris scene but that isn't necessarily that into more straight up dance music - the album is pretty rocking, but has great dance flourishes and is well worth hearing. You can listen to a couple more tracks, including one for download, on their Myspace page. This particular track appeared as a 12" late last year, and features the vocals of Olga Kouklaki.
Poni Hoax is will be available here in the US on July 25th, but you can buy it now, direct from the label - the always enjoyable, and unpredictable, Tigersushi - if you don't mind paying the import price, here, or if you can wait a few weeks, it will be available from our friends at Forced Exposure. Also, be sure to grab their free-download single - "She's On The Radio" - on their website.
Happy Wednesday!