Papooz

Oslo, Hackney - Tuesday 9 April 2019. Papooz album-launch gig.

Having never been to a Papooz gig I had anticipated a colourful, fun, 'cliche-but-we-own-it', fashionable, somewhat avant-garde and very Parisian pop mess. I even expected to hear a studio tinkering and overproduction on their sound that would not translate well in the flesh.

I was wrong; beyond belief.

There is an abundance of talent in this group and a tightness about their performance. From Ulysse's guitar showboating licks and solos that amped up the crowd, to Armand's harmonised vocals that sound even slicker live than in the studio, they owned their stage. Whatsmore the punchy double bassist/pianist, lively but chill bassist and face-contorted drummer played off one another well, as though effortlessly riding a wave and having oh so much fun doing so.

Off the back of their new studio album - Night Sketches - which explores the seedier but sexy underbelly of Paris' nightlife with a Papoozian panache, Papooz now possess a big enough catalogue to take you on a varied musical journey during their performance. Following a whistlestop tour down the back-alleys of Paris, came the easily digestible hits which were nailed theatrically and shamelessly.

A cigarette-fueled encore saw the band hand out beer to the crowd, unlawfully permit the audience to light up, and an invitation extended to a bloke wishing to dabble out of time with an egg shaker, alongside the laughing bassist and drummer. Tracks included their funky uptempo beach-bum track 'Ann Wants to Dance' followed by a downtempo jazzy rendition of 'Louise, My Girl Looks Like David Bowie' that had the crowd singing along in equal measure.

"Infectious" is a word often synonymised with pop music. Chased down all too frequently by the word "disposable". Like Freddie Mercury once said, "My songs are like Bic razors. For fun, for modern consumption. You listen to it, like it, discard it, then on to the next. Disposable pop." Except, today most would recognise Queen's music to be timeless, with few tracks dating badly. Make no mistake, Papooz is not in the same category nor class stylistically or talent-wise, and they wouldn't claim to be - Queen are incomparable, unique and a one-off. But I hope I am right in saying that their music will become something easily adorned and adored for years to come, rather than looked back at with that oh so familiar feeling of "how the fuck was I ever into this music?"

Un album qui donne la pêche.
Ces deux frenchies assurent sur scène comme en studio. Un style entre le rock garage et la bossa nova et des lyrics en anglais, leurs musiques différent des autres groupes français actuel. À écouter de toute urgence. Vivement le prochain opus. MERCI à eux. Vincent