BAND CRUSH: GET BACK GUINOZZI!

A trippy-pop French band? C'est magnifique!

French pop runs the gamut, from Serge Gainsbourg to Stereo Total to the Plastiscines.

But if there’s anything they have in common, it’s making totally catchy, utterly whimsical, occasionally naughty songs—something that Get Back Guinozzi! has down pat.

The five-piece band got started when French friends Eglantine Gouzy and Fred Landini started tinkering around with songs intended for a contemporary dance company. Though they’ve since expanded their line-up, the sound is just as charming.

Gouzy sings like CocoRosie on helium, murmuring about roommates and L.A. traffic like they’re the most enchanting things in the world. But Get Back Guinozzi! has more than ‘60s ye-ye aspirations; on their soon-to-be-released debut album, Carpet Madness, the sonic inspiration ranges from the Slits to Suede to Ariel Pink. “Personal Lodger” swaggers like a Smiths B-side, “L.A.” swoons like Robert Smith after a sex-change, and their rendition of “Police and Thieves” picks up where B-52’s call-and-response vocals left off.

It’s a little trippy, a little delirious, and completely fun. If Get Back Guinozzi’s dreamy pop version of the Clash classic doesn’t get you shouting, “oui oui,” while you dance, we don’t know what will.
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS

Visit myspace.com/getbackguinozzi for more info.



This story was published on September 28, 2009.