Claiming
connections with the like of Cure, Young Marble Giant,
Global Goon and Animals On Wheels, Margo do not lack of
self-confidence. Formed in Angers, in the heart of the
Loire Valley, a couple of hours south of Paris, while
at university, as a course project, the band is made up
of three musicians and a singer. Encompassing all sorts
of art forms, from visual media to fashion, Margo are
by all means a true art project. The Catnap,
their first release, is published on young French label
Peter I’m Flying!, based in Rennes.
Despite each of the three musicians playing guitar or
bass on the album, the compositions are all almost entirely
electronic in shape and form, contrasting with the bitter-sweet
voice of Mélanie Massons. Evoking the melancholic
pop of the likes of St Etienne, Stereolab–
due, no doubt, partly to the French link – or Pram,
Margo also draw a parallel with the more instrumental
and experimental landscapes of To Rococo Rot, Plone
and even Boards Of Canada.
Simple melodies and minimalist soundscapes encapsulate
the spirit of this pop refusing to conform to commercial
constraints, reflecting instead on the volatile aspect
of popular music and its perverse effects. Here, the
musicians position each sound, each effect, in the spectrum
with great precision, careful not to disturb the balance
between the abstract constructions and the delicate
melodic circumvolutions. The lyrics, equally, play on
the contradictions of pop music, at times hiding their
absurd nonsense behind elaborated words (The Rest),
at others relishing on the frivolities of life (My
Cat). In any case, Margo manage to stand the comparison
with their peers, drawing emotional moments like no
others. The album opens with the subtle La Baumette,
only song sung in French, and already the band establish
its little sweetened universe in style. The following
pieces are equally charming, and if the instrumental
Sifits of Coffee Song seem to be missing
the vocal contribution slightly, they also show the
band equally at ease with a less constrained exercise.
The highlight of this album can be found right at the
heart of The Catnap. Listening to My Cat,
a puerile song about the peregrinations of… a cat at
night, one would suddenly dream that, if life was fair,
this song would sit nicely at the top of any decent
chart for a while.
The press release accompanying The Catnap evokes
quite understandably Françoise Hardy, as a comparison,
more than as an influence. The soft vocal harmonies have
the innocence and naivety of childhood, and the atmospheric
constructions supporting them, as granular as they might
be, simply enhance the inherent beauty of it all.
4/5 |
