My brushes with French culture include narrowly getting out of French class my sophomore year of high school (I ditched it every day for two weeks until they placed me in German), reading Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, following the Tour de France every year, and viewing most of Truffaut’s films. I’ve never even met a French person, but I’m sure they exist. The media still runs stories about how they can’t stand the U.S. and why would the media ever want to make up enemies? I recall the story about Henry Ford II saying “I don’t like frog tires” after being told that one of his executives had put Michelin tires on a Mustang. So the animosity between our cultures is long lived, which is downright funny considering they helped us get free of the British and then our revolution inspired their own. If only old Henry could have heard Les Terribles blasting out of the Michelin wheeled Mustang, maybe his opinion of the French would have been better. This new Dionysus label release is pretty heavy on the French version of British Invasion era rock and roll, unless it’s just a joke perpetrated on your dear reviewer.
It is laid on a bit thick. A big Recorded In France emblazoned on the disc. The members are listed as chant – Rudie, guitare 1 – Fred, guitare 2 – Nicus, basse – Ivan, and batterie – Michel. That’s vocals, guitar 1, guitar 2, bass, and drums for you non-French speaking folks out there. Now how could a good old boy from Tennessee figure that out when he never went to French class? Well there is a French Broad just down Interstate – 40. It’s a river, not a woman so get your mind out of the gutter. I also used to know some Cajuns and they could cuss a black and blue streak of crazy patois. The members of Les Terribles are said to have come together after playing with Dutronic, Operation 5, No Talents, Wangs, and Les Synapses. All of the dudes, except for Rudie who’s a girl, look like Roy Orbison crossed with Dee Dee Ramone. The music is crude Sixties high treble hooks and ladders that doesn’t surrender to today’s fashions. It clings to the fuselage of backbeat British Spitfire raucous and roll.
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