French Horn Rebellion : ‘Up All Night’
Released: Out Now!!!
Label: French Horn Rebellion
Sometimes music can feel like the visual art world. Protagonists are constantly striving for innovation in their medium, to break mould as a musician can be as profitable as cubism was to messrs Picasso and co. French Horn Rebellion – who by their name alone are ‘out there’ – are typical of this group of experimentalists. Musical technique and technology are their palettes and the mix is always intriguing.
Ostensibly, the Milwaukee duo is an electro-pop advocate flirting with the indie that made people sit up and take notice of MGMT’s wackiness. ‘Up All Night’, their first UK single release, is a playful lope through various mediums; involving 80s pop synthesised beats, Daft Punk robotronics, essences of Prince and the science fiction indie rock that Klaxons and MGMT lavished on. Perhaps the tronic vocals – vocoder, synthesiser and any other artificially created sound – is overworked, but the song is a fantastic composition and points to the fun of music creation rather than filling their songs with social commentary undertones. Party by name and nature. The quirky and well integrated female backing singers add a poppy gloss to their precise vocals and round the song off almost as nicely as the astral tinklings of the instrumentals.
‘Broken Heart’ the other track has a touch more seriousness, brought in by the 808 drumbeat and the electric guitar solo, but still retains their space/science fiction principles and ensures that even if their music is skirted over, their idiosyncratic attitude to their work will turn a few heads.
4/5
Words: John Elmes
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