I'm going to let you into a little secret: I'm not hip, not trendy, don't have my finger on the pulse. Never have, never will. And that's completely fine ... but it does mean that the act featured in today's post, Stereolab, basically passed me by when they were in their early 90s pomp. I was, in fact, spending a lot of time relying on Suede to fill the post-Smiths gap I still felt (although Brett and Bernard were only really marking time for me, until Gene came along and I could really fall in love with a band again). Whatever, you can read between the lines and see that I was in a guitar-led, literate, occasionally fey, indie bubble. Stereolab didn't fit, ergo they passed me by. I have always been parochial, it seems.
My first real exposure came in the form of the splendidly title Lo Boob Oscillator, when that was featured on the High Fidelity soundtrack. I would struggle to name a soundtrack I've listened to more but that's a whole other blog post. Lo Boob Oscillator is notable for singer Laetitia Gane's Nico-esque delivery, French lyrics, slight 60s vibe and repetitive beats. But it's not that track I want to talk about.
Stereolab would have remained a likeable soundtrack curio for me then, if not for 6 Music, and a recent playing of today's classic, French Disko. This one's sung in English, and features vocal interplay between Laetitia and guitarist Mary Hansen. The other hallmarks are there: vintage keyboards, repetitive rhythms, almost droning vocals. But what, you might reasonably ask, elevates a song that's more than 25 years old but that I've only just discovered to Clandestine Classic status? Well, for a start, the lyrics aren't messing about:
Though this world's essentially an absurd place to be living in
It doesn't call for bubble withdrawal
I've been told it's a fact of life, men have to kill one another
Well I say there are still things worth fighting for
La resistance!
Though this world's essentially an absurd place to be living in
It doesn't call for bubble withdrawal
It's said human existence is pointless
As acts of rebellious solidarity can bring sense in this world
La resistance!
La resistance!
Very "now", arent they, for lyrics written in 1992/3? And that's the thing, really, more than just the lyrics - this feels utterly timeless. Maybe the vintage instruments coupled with a more modern pace threw me off slightly but when I first heard this on the radio, not knowing who it was or what it was called, my first reaction was to think this was a new band, a new sound. Imagine my surprise, then, on doing the research, to discover its age, and that of some of the instruments being played. I know this probably reflects on me, and the fact that I'm a white, middle-aged, lower-middle-class man living in the sticks, but to me this sounds, if not "now" then at least how I would like "now" to sound. It is, I would contend, truly timeless, in the best sense of the word.
I still don't know much about Stereolab but I am, as Henry Kelly used to say, playing catch-up (compilation Oscillons from the Anti-Sun looks a good place to start, and includes French Disko). Whilst I do that, here's today's classic, courtesy of the modern miracle/curse that is YouTube, plus a contemporary live version from The Word (because it is excellent, and because watching The Word makes me feel young). I spoil you, you know?
