Pop Crimes, Debuts (Howlin’ Banana)
Pop Crimes is a Paris-based quartet who share a name with the title of an album from Rowland S. Howard (RIP), and include members of (amongst others) En Attendant Ana. Debuts, the band’s appropriately titled first release, is a brilliant four song introduction to a very anglophilic sounding group of francophones.
On Debuts, Pop Crimes demonstrate a wicked proficiency in fusing the blissful and the barbed – c86-style jangle and slacker indie, weighted with the crunch of garage and shoegaze and a soupçon of Libertines-like louche swagger. Perfect example: the hazy, scuffed pop of ‘Goes’, with antipodean shades of groups like The Church and the swing and swagger of early Ride or The House of Love. Like the best of bands who wear their collective influences on their sleeves, the set brings fond memories without sounding like mere rehash. Very much looking forward to hearing what comes next.
Debuts was released in January, courtesy of Howlin’ Banana – allez, go pick it up!
Higlights include: ‘Goes’; ‘Always Lover’