When it comes to Nouvelle Vague, the idea is pretty basic - take some classic rock tracks, strip them down to the simplest chords, and dip them in the stylings of bossa nova. At the core of their description, Nouvelle Vague essentially crafts covers, but to call their tracks covers or to call this band a cover band would just be so...wrong. Nouvelle Vague holds aloft tracks everyone knows and loves and provides such a refreshing point of view and naive approach of play that, at the end of it all, the track you knew so well is all of a sudden revitalized into something you almost wouldn't recognize. Nouvelle Vague is and provides, as their name suggests, something new.

This past weekend I had the pleasure to see them at Mohawk's, and despite the cold weather, the outdoor portion of the venue was packed from floor to balcony. Coming out of Colin and Libaux's collective that night were two singers from the Nouvelle Vague roster. Not having remembered their names though, I'm just going to refer to them under the two Frenchiest names I can think of - Antoinette and Josephine. Quite appropriate really, Nouvelle Vague is just so quintessentially French. The chanteuses took to their mics, and that was it. It was Valentine's weekend, and the chubby cherub known as Cupid must have been carrying a lot of arrows with him that night, because there wasn't a single person there that didn't fall in love that night. Streaming through the speakers were songs we love sung in a style that made us love them more. Antoinette, in her feathery white jacket, along with Josephine, almost inversely dressed in all black, had us all wrapped around their fingers. Their voices, soft and alluring, carried in the cold air and slithered through the crowd. We would catch a collective sway during downtrodden tracks, and when paces picked up, we clapped and partied hardy. For all the love we gave them, they certainly gave love back and gave us a show fit for something that carried us from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Nouvelle Vague are currently on the latter end of their tour, but are still set to entertain more cities. If they run through your town, definitely make sure to drop by.





Various songs from Nouvelle Vague (all songs are right click - save as):
Killing Moon
Master & Servant

Catch the dates on the rest of their and learn more at their site.
Be their friend!

Labels: Mohawk's, Retrospective