Published NEU Magazine, 2006
Ahoy there! Wry scouse speed-indieists Hot Club De Paris have been firing warning shots across our bows for a while already. Now that two moshi moshi singles, 'sometimesitsbetternotto...' and 'everyeveryeverything' are out on the open seas, it seems plain sailing. So why all the hackneyed marine references?
First, the album cover has fish on it. Secondly, lots of words, related to the sea and maritime culture appear throughout this album, some of which are 'galleon', 'seaside' and 'pier'. Opener 'Shipwreck' slaps you in the face with some yo-ho-ho-ing that has the texture of a very heavy and quickly-slung kipper. And there are lots of lolloping, rolling vocal singalongs.
'Drop It Til It Pops' has a tendency to sound like any band you don't think it should sound like (see Pixies, Dexy's Midnight Runners and the Minutemen). With HCdP however, you're more struck by the fact that nothing has been drenched in effects, rather just been played very well. And the tunes, if sometimes lacking in recognisable structure, aren't that bad either.
One word of warning, though. Hot Club De Paris are not fond of playing things in comfortable time signatures. This is dance for dyspraxics. They strut like juddering sea-bound creatures, restricted not by time but by the fact there is only three of them to share out the words. And although 'Drop It Til It Pops' is very good, sometimes you get the feeling that their dabbling in complex time structures is dabbling for dabbling's sake. Or even worse: a fear of sounding like one of those boring, land-loving bands that only play in common time.
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