I am sure you’ve all had your own share of ‘carpet madness’. I know I have. From knee-burns and wine-spills to toy soldiers that just won’t stand up straight on the pile, it’s been one mad moment after another – and it’s good to see that we finally have a band prepared to address the issue in such a serious and uncritical way. Not all carpets are magic, afterall, and although the album doesn’t really offer a ride as smooth as King Solomon’s or a trip quite as successful (or direct) as a thousand and one nights, it does offer a similarly skewed and giddy feeling in the pit of your stomach as loony feckless classics like, ‘Where Are You?’ and ‘Jungley’ pursue the kind of trajectory more commonly associated with paper-planes and little ships with holes in them. But that’s what you get with the French, who do ‘quirky’ with the same smart-arse intensity as the Swiss do cheese.
With tales about personal lodgers, awol monks, going to the swimming pool, taking naps on the sofa, show and tell games with your shrink and seeming far too old (and shit) you are guaranteed a record that fails to reproduce any of those classic Bon Jovi moments nor appears likely to find its way onto your Grandma’s Amazon wish-lish this Xmas. It’s bizarre, a little odd and as tinny and cheap sounding as a toy tambourine but it’s also uncommonly appealing. And fans of the eighties will love it, rattling as it does with those same wriggly, New Order bass lines, tatty robotic drum sequences and more reverb than Jesus and The Mary Chain could drown in. The overall effect is not unlike like having Yoko Ono flouncing her rah-rah skirt to Clare Grogan and Altered Images during a Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. Fruity, frothy and joyfully surreal. You’ll have little idea as to what they’re singing about at times – but it only adds to the charm. A pick n mix of jellybeans and chocolate misshapes likely to leave you smiling. And more than a little confused.
Worthy of your attention just for the nursery school reimagining of the Clash/Murvin classic, ‘Police and Thieves’ alone. Tasty.