Released 25/10/10 on I'm A Cliche

There’s something about The French and electro that just seems to mesh. Daft Punk, Air and Justice are the flag bearers (without a French horn or accordion in sight I might add) but now there’s a new kid in town. Bot’Ox. They are also without horn and squeeze-box, but unfortunately are not fronted by Vicki Michelle from ‘Allo ‘Allo. Because that would be the greatest band in the world. All she’d have to do is purr ‘Ohhhh Rene’ over brooding synths, and I’d just hand over all my worldly possessions. Back on topic, Bot’Ox (I can never hear that word without thinking of Forrest Gump getting shot in the butt-tocks) are Benjamin Boguet (aka Cosmo Vitelli, who has remixed for Daft Punk among others) and Julien Briffaz (one half of Tekel). Googling for them is tricky, and not without its share of unpleasant images of facial operations, so don’t do it over breakfast.

Their album is Babylon By Car, and most of the tracks are vehicle related by name, but the tracks fortunately aren't made up of revving noises from a decrepit Volvo, or the sound of a lollipop lady being hit by a bus. The album is a melange (some topical French there for you) of electro, pop, and post-punk. But as with all music of this kind, it’s the multitude of layers involved in each track that is the key to holding the listener’s attention.

Opener “Motor City” is particularly Justice-y, with the keys somehow managing to sound quite French indeed. But it builds, slowly, intriguingly, like Rain Man with a mountain of Lego at his disposal, and then it fades out rather nicely. “Bearded Lady Motorcycle Club” immediately wins the prize for Song Name Of The Year. The townsfolk would be out in force if such a club wanted to use the village hall for their monthly meeting. The track is instantly darker, more like electro-punk in places with a bassline so dirty it’s appearing on Jeremy Kyle next week, yet matched with the uplifting synths it’s a beautiful mess, and very grooveable.

“Blue Steel” is the soundtrack to Pong played in Limbo. It’s been used in a commercial for the Peugeot 207, yet strangely enough in the band’s video for the track it features a Ford. Controversial. The beat is addictive, and the vocals added by Anna Jean are a welcome touch.  It’s the most pop moment so far, and it sounds tres cool (not Green Day’s drummer).

“Overdrive” is decidedly rockier, and if they ever decide to remake Streets Of Rage, this should be used as a level soundtrack. The satisfying thwack of hitting someone with a wooden baseball bat would fit in rather nicely with this, and it would never grow tiresome. Always a good sign. “Crashed Cadillac” is full of mystery and suspense. It’s epically filmic in quality. It should be used as car chase music. Imagine a scene from Bullitt with this behind it... actually you don’t have to imagine, just watch that here!

“Tout Passe, Tout Lasse, Tout Casse” features Judy Nylon lending her vocals. The title is a French proverb meaning “everything passes, everything wears out, everything breaks” as Judy helpfully translates for us. She should work for Rosetta Stone. The track itself is possibly a little too similar to the previous one, and Judy’s lyrics don’t really add anything to it. Title track “Babylon By Car” starts out with some interesting percussion, imagine cow bells in a washing machine, but it doesn’t really takes off. It has odd moments, the drum rolls seem intent to signal some kind of audio apocalypse which never materialises, and the quieter part in the middle is pleasant. On the whole it’s just too awkward, though it does get better towards the end. Think Zelda on crack.

“Rue de l’Arsenal” features Mark ‘Bogus’ Kerr, and begins ominously enough with synthesised air raid sirens, and again you expect some deathly electro punk to blow your ears off in the style of " begins with jangly guitars that dissolve into more video game music. This time we’re exploring dungeons, heading deeper and deeper underground, finding coins underneath rocks and fighting opponents armed with pointy sticks and horrific faces.

“Car Jacked” is again suited for video games, this time the end credits of a RPG where the hero defeats evil, but his scantily clad female lust interest gets eaten by a snake, and thus he begins his long journey home alone. It’s not as strong as the tracks before, but it’s still pleasing enough. “Tragedy Symphony” is like Waters Of Nazareth" by Justice, but instead it’s more plodding humdrum, Kerr’s hushed vocals irritating instead of interesting. And just when you’ve had enough of Kerr, he also appears on the albums final song “Slow Burn.”  This time his vocals suit the serene, minimalistic style, and if anything his part is over too soon. As men, we should be used to that by now.

On the whole, the album is terribly lopsided by its very good first half, and flawed second half. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned French electro scene, you may find some joy here, but there’s not enough else to convert fence sitters and non enthusiasts. 

6/10

Posted In Album Reviews, Oct 28 2010. Words - Paul