I know what you’re thinking: How is Eux Autres a throwback? I mean, Sun is Sunk just came out, and it’s incredible! All totally true. But Sun is Sunk is not what has been on heavy rotation in my house (I’d say medium rotation). No, dear friends, I am all of obsessed with an Eux Autres record, and it’s their very first record, Hell is Eux Autres that is a whopping 8 years old. I say that is throwback worthy, y’all!
Eux Autres, pronounced ooz-auh-tra for those Frenchily-challenged like myself, are very worthy. Last week, still reeling from seeing The Aislers Set live, I realized I cannot go the rest of my life listening to ONLY The Aislers Set (okay, maybe I can). I needed something similar, but something decidedly different, and in came Eux Autres. Actually, The Aislers Set’s drummer is provides one-half of the lead vocals! And did you know Janet Weiss produced this record? Star-studded!
Even those these babes are located way out in SF, they obviously are obsessed with French pop and the 1960s, and it shows. My favorite song on the record is “The Things They Carried” because I have never heard the Vietnam War portrayed in such a delicious, happy way before. “The Sundance Kid” is also a favorite. Heather Larimer has an adorable, buttery voice, and she is so pitch perfect sometimes that it almost makes anyone sound good singing along (*ahem* or just me… in my own head).
Eux Autres, “The Sundance Kid”
Once upon a time I was in a pop band. And no, not Bunnygrunt. It was like 2005-2007 or so, we were called The Grade Grubbers. We were released by an itty bitty CD-R label up in Sweden that is now defunct called Yellow Mica Records. Anyway, the reason why this is relevant at all is because my band was supposed to play Popfest! New England, organized by Skipping Stones Records. I don’t think any of these things even exist anymore, but we were gonna trek up to the fest with Bunnygrunt who played 99 Custer, an old punk house I used to live at, a night or two before.
Their masterpiece record, All The Time, was released on Slumberland way back in ’95. While an absolute classic, it has been mostly a sleeper classic in that I rarely meet people who have heard of the Ropers, which, let me tell you, is a damn shame, especially when you listen to it in comparison to the current darlings of twee, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. The influence is obvious, which in many ways just makes the Pains that much more wonderful, but I wish The Ropers had more recognition, yanno? Fortunately, Slumberland knows what’s up, and thus I had the extreme honor of seeing The Ropers play the Slumberland 20th Anniversary show back in ’09 at The Bell House in Brooklyn. So freaking amazing.
