Vaguely punk

Nov 18 2008 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

COVERS act Nouvelle Vague (below) are set to bring their unique take on one of rock’s most fertile eras to Perth next week.

The French musical collective, who have carved a niche for themselves by reinterpreting the work of Blondie, Joy Division and The Clash in an unlikely bossa nova style, will be appearing at Perth Concert Hall on November 27.

Led by musical masterminds Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, the band’s name is a play on words which translated literally means “new wave”.

Inspired by cult Sixties French cinema, the source of all Nouvelle Vague’s material is ironically late-Seventies punk and early-Eighties post-punk covers - all performed to retro bossa nova arrangements.

The band’s self-titled debut album in 2004 stripped back a host of the era’s standards to acoustic arrangements coupled with with lithe shaker rhythms.

Featuring a parade of chanteuses from all over the world - six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker - Nouvelle Vague gave their unique treatment to seminal works by the likes of XTC, Modern English, The Clash, Joy Division and The Undertones on their first offering.

Their 2006 follow-up, Bande À Part, included versions of Ever Fallen In Love by Buzzcocks, New Order’s Blue Monday, The Killing Moon by Echo & The Bunnymen and Heart of Glass (Blondie).

Band members and contributors to the project have included various acclaimed French artists, including Anaïs Croze, Camille Dalmais, Phoebe Killdeer, Mélanie Pain and Marina Céleste, who are considered to be part of the trend-setting movement Renouveau de la Chanson Française, literally, the renewal of French chanson.

Tickets for Nouvelle Vague are available from the Perth venue on 01738 621031.