Online - May 03, 2005

She's So Vague

Nouvelle Vague Album

You rehearse in the shower, train in front of the mirror, perform daily for your sweetie/ neighbor/cat. Practice, practice, practice.

Now if only you could get discovered.

Until that happens you can daydream to the smoky, sexy sounds of Nouvelle Vague’s debut album.

It’s new wave. It’s bossa nova. It’s French pop. And you already know all the words.

The band (perhaps “music project” is a better description) resurrects favorite post-punk tunes and transforms them into intoxicating, acoustic lounge music. The compilation includes Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton,” PiL’s “(This Is Not a) Love Song,” and Dead Kennedys’ “Too Drunk To F***” — all sung in sweet, wispy, heavenly voices.

Kind of like you would sing them. If you had any vocal range. And weren’t tone-deaf. (Details, details.)

And so brooding punk becomes sultry crooning. Dark melody turns to feisty pop.

As for your own transformation? Well, don’t get out of the shower just yet.

Available online at amazon.com. To hear tracks, go to flashenhanced.com/nouvellevague.

  Music