Customer Reviews

Trompe-L'Oeil

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Dears, The Unicorns, Stars, Metric and Godspeed You! Black Emperor all enjoyed free publicity from The Arcade Fire's 2004 indie rock grand slam, "Funeral", when all eyes turned to Canada.

"Trompe l'oeil" is the album for those of you who enjoyed the explosion of the Montreal scene, but wondered, "Where's the French?"

Let's face it, good Canadian francorock is hard to come by. Canadian French format radio's been pumping out the same uninspired prog rock for years. And the market seems to be getting smaller. To capture a bigger potential fanbase, a lot of francophones choose to sing in English.

Finally, wih "Trompe l'oeil," we've got French radio play to get excited about. Malajube reminds me at times of The Unicorns, Modest Mouse, and Muse, all while finding a new sound that's truly interesting enough to stand up to the English Quebec scene.

Even if you don't understand French, you will appreciate the energetic playing, the clever rhythms and harmonies, and the tender whisper to rebel yell singing.

Start here. Then check out some other fantastic francorock albums like 60's yé-yé inspired "Dejeuner sur l'herbe" by Les Breastfeeders and burlesque meets The Good the Bad and the Ugly in "Western Shanghai" by Call Me Poupée.

I have looked for a long time for an indie band like Malajube. I was skeptical with their first full CD (which I do enjoy, but not as much as Trompe-L'oeil). They have a great sound and are a lot of fun to listen to. I understand very few of their words, but the music is excellent. Montreal is an amazing track, although all of these tracks will get stuck in your head at one point in time. You will NOT regret buying this CD.

Although I had much difficulty in actually getting the CD out of the white enclosing (from the side of the wierdly though artsy designed CD container) I did end up loving the songs on the CD. It sounds dreamy, breathy, smexy, indie-rock, all melded together perfectly. Everything seems to work (Even the occasional screaming in the background). It sounds balanced, moving, and fun.

They sing entirely in French and while I can't understand it, it sounds beautiful. I've heard though that once you find out what the lyrics really mean, that you won't like the songs so much. The titles of the songs kind of are a tip-off though. Urine infection, cancer, tourettes syndrome, hallucinations, schizophrenia, death, and bipolar disorder (those are the ones easiest to figure out.)

Just a side note though, I put the actual CD into a regular CD case after I finally managed to get it out. (Because it probably took me half an hour to get out.) It's easier this way.

This is a great album, from start to finish. its amazing in all its aspects, although i dont think it tops the bands first album, Le Compt Complet.

In an ever changing indie music landscape, it's nearly impossible to stand out or be unique...while at the same time being worth listening too. Enter Malajube.

While the entire CD is an eclectic blend (on par with Wolf Parade or Clap Your Hands...only with more accessible vocals) sung in a sort of dirty French, Trompe-L'Oeil (trick the eye) will amaze you with a quality and energy that transcends whether or not you understand what they're saying. Take the song "La Russe"...have they just invented French-Grime? doesn't matter because it's over before you know it and they're moving on to equally invigorating territory.

Let's face it. There are people out there who get this CD simply to say that they own French Indie Rap Rock. Lucky for them, and all of us, it's more than a gimmick. It's really really good.

This cd is great. I'd heard about 3 songs before buying it and the rest of the songs measure up to what I was expecting.