TAHITI 80 - Puzzle
Minty Fresh
This French group incorporates a lot of the best of the post-Bacharach lounge-rock artists such as the Cardigans, Ivy, Louis Phillippe and others. Wispy melodies and pretty acoustic guitars frame sunkissed tracks like 'When The Sun' (which also features sublime string accompaniment) and 'Yellow Butterfly'. A dose of winking playfulness is added to 'Mr Davies', an affectionate observational 'study' of Ray the Kink and 'Easy Way Out', a graduate of the Zombies/Turtles school for bounciness. Not content to display their mastery of the lighter side of pop, Tahiti 80 adds edgier rock elements elsewhere. 'Revolution 80' has a swirling danceable rhythm (deftly played by bassist Pedro Resende and drummer Sylvain Marchand) that is a slightly lighter take on the Madchester grooves of the late-80's. The brilliant title cut inspiringly matches a typical strummy verse with a gripping, dramatic guitar driven chorus and adds an aching bridge, building to a necessary climax - they use dynamics in an original way to create an emotional rollercoaster of a song. Bravo! This special group gets special assistance - Ivy's Andy Chase produces, his colleague Adam Schlesinger plays keys on a couple tracks and Eric Matthews contributes some trumpet and flugelhorn parts. Nifty.
MIKE BENNETT (8.5)
The duo Tahiti 80 hails from Rouen, a town in Normandy, the northeastern part of France. Vocalist/guitarist Xavier Boyer and bassist Pedro Resende were classmates at the University of Rouen. Having garnered some attention with an EP titled '20 Minutes' released back in 1996, they've finally released PUZZLE, their full length debut. Some of the songs here veer a bit too far into the land of twee indie pop for my tastes (think Club 8 or Eggstone), but others are a bit more substantial, including 'Heartbeat', propelled as it is by a new-wavey keyboard hook, soulful vocals, and a groovy drum shuffle. PUZZLE contains two songs paying tribute to other musicians, one titled 'Mr Davies', a paean to Ray Davies of The Kinks and a second called 'Hey Joe', an homage to singer Joe Dolan of The Drifters. While the album certainly has some pleasant moments, it wears a bit thin on repeated listens, largely because of Boyer's wispy, breathy vocals. Standout tracks include 'I.S.A.A.C.' and 'Heartbeat'.
DAVE HOFFMAN (5)
A puzzle undone presents a broken reality; however, Tahiti 80's disc, PUZZLE, its debut effort for the Minty Fresh label (Cardigans, Komeda, Papas Fritas, Kahimi Karie, et al), presents a seamless and altogether focused collage of really catchy kitsch pop songs. Putting the pieces together under the auspices of pop veteran Andy Chase (Ivy), this French quartet's voracious vision for pop stardom shines loud and clear on this disc. The twelve songs, driving with mellow complexity, bounce off the disc with an edgy delicacy and a fat, vintage, round pop sound. At the same time, Xavier Boyer's breathy vocals create a unique centerpoint, guiding the groovy disco like and jazz influenced chord progressions and arrangements to colorful heights. Most tracks, especially 'Heartbeat', 'Made First Never Forgot', and 'Mr Davies', leave a sweet feeling of corporal happiness as if being tickled while playing Candyland and you are winning the game. Track six, 'Swimming Suit', presents the most beautiful piece of the puzzle., though. Lilting in harmony and delicate in arrangement, this track makes you feel like when the person of your dreams crosses your path, making your heart drop and leaving you breathless. The only blemish is the vocal effect, the same effect Cher uses on her current hit. Soon enough, however, this imperfection becomes unnoticed and the song continues to charm the soul more and more with every listen. Tahiti 80 creates a wonderful sonic picture for us to enjoy with PUZZLE. Let's hope they have what it takes to evolve their precocious pop artistry over the years.
THOMAS GALVEZ (8.5)
Until the fairly recent emergence of Air and Autour de Lucie, French bands were not generally associated with sophisticated pop, at least by most American listeners. Tahiti 80 is one of a number of newer French bands who are changing that perception. This collection of bright and shimmering pop may turn out to be my 'summer album'. PUZZLE is produced by Andy Chase of Ivy, another band that combines elegant pop songs with a French sensibility (Ivy's vocalist is Dominique Durand, to whom Chase is married). Although they have their own distinctive sound, Tahiti 80 bear some similarities to Ivy, especially in the way some songs transistion from a breezy pop verse to a harder guitar-based chorus. Other cuts bear the retro-synthesizer-over-funky-beats sound of Stereolab, itself an Anglo-French collaboration (e.g. 'Hearbeat'). Fans of Eric Matthews orchestral-pop will find his influence on several songs. The opener, 'Yellow Butterfly' not only sounds like a great Matthews track, it features Matthews himself on a gorgeous trumpet and fluegelhorn arrangement. The next cut, 'I.S.A.A.C.', is one of the best songs I've heard in months. it begins with a throbbing guitar and bass drone, then opens up into an unforgettable, harmony-laden chorus that I've been humming for weeks. Here and elsewhere, the backing harmonies are particularly beautiful, recalling those in the Association's best songs ('Along Comes Mary'). 'Hey Joe' sounds somewhat like the Zombies crossed with Fountains Of Wayne, and actually features FOW mastermind Adam Schlesinger (who is also a member of Ivy) on organ. If you're in the mood for some light, yet deeply textured, summer pop, it would be hard to find a better album than this one.
BRIAN O'CONNOR (7.5)