Hot Club De Paris – The Rise And Inevitable Fall Of…

One of the most wonderful things about Hot Club de Paris has been their staunch refusal to slot into anything approaching the industry norm over the past six or so years. In that time, guitar music has followed its path of high peaks and low troughs, whilst contemporaries have gone from being the next big thing to having the label of ‘landfill indie’ thrust upon them by an indifferent public. The Liverpudlian trio have carried on regardless, following their original blueprint of creating jaunty 3 minutes bursts of pop music.

The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band is the second EP of their return, as the band sink into a prolific period of writing, self producing and recording tracks. Considering the speed that they’ve put out these 6 tracks – it’s only 3 months since their last effort – it’s an enjoyable surprise that there’s no noticeable dip in quality from the band. Lead single ‘Free the Pterodactyl 3’ is a slow, considered number still bears the bands mark however – reminiscing, as it does, singer Paul’s failure to free a fibreglass model dinosaur from a derelict fun fair at the hands of the law. Closing track ‘Three Albums in and still no Ballad’ might be a brave show of irony, but there’s no bravado in the mournful tones crafted, nor in Paul’s unusually tender vocals.

The EP might not mark a change in direction for the band, but it’s certainly indicative of a small shift in the band’s output. Whilst the furiously high tempo that has become the their signature remains intact, along with the jolting, stop-start rhythm that is such a hallmark of their sound, the infectious pop that has always haunted their sound has been toned down. There’s nothing to compare to the likes of ‘Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachotherforeachother’ or ‘Hey! Housebrick’ in terms of pop brilliance, but there is a new found depth to Hot Club de Paris. Even their ode to a seemingly fictitious act – second track ‘Biggie Smalls and the Ghetto Slams’ – prefers to border on melancholy rather than simply going for the kill, grieving ‘the good times gone wrong’ before the made-up outfit used to ‘rock the party’.

Moshi Moshi have had a lot of great bands on their roster over the past few years, but it’s fitting that one of that Hot Club’s records should be the one to mark up their century. Whilst trends have seen label mates like Kate Nash and Florence Welch become superstars in their own right, there’s always been something about the threesome that has transcended popularity in the charts, a trait that has found them in favour during these relative guitar-unfriendly times as well as alienated from the boom and bust of the past few years. The EP’s title track proves they still have the vivacious energy that won our hearts in the first place, filled with angular guitar, shouty harmonies and a chorus that makes you want to dance, but there are more signs than ever that beneath the arty pop punk, there’s three entirely human hearts.