The Penelope[s] Priceless Concrete Echoes

French indie electronic duo The pEneLOpe[s] take many of their cues from contemporaries like M83, Cut Copy, and MGMT, mixing a distinctly pop sensibility that draws on Brit pop from the early 90′s with elements of synth pop and early House that appeal to home listeners as well as club kids.

The band enjoyed a rapid rise to fame after their debut in 2005 on DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolo label (which served as a launching pad for the careers of Fisherspooner, Miss Kittin or Tiga). Within a year The pEneLOpe[s] had played the best European festivals (Sonar, Razzmatazz, Dour), opened for Human League and Ladytron, been named alongside Justice, Sebastian and The Klaxons as the revelation of the year by the readers of Trax Magazine, France’s Dance culture bible, and Axel, the band’s vocalist even earned a Japanese nickname: “the black Iggy Pop”.

Priceless Concrete Echoes is their first US release. It features former Minimal Compact vocalists Morpheus and Malka Spigel, as well as Dierdre from Ekova. Produced by Blackstrobe’s Arnaud Rebotini, the album the album mashes Shoegazing, New York Disco, Punk and Electronica. Nostalgic hints pervade this collage, evoking at times the gestures of New Order or Ride, but the overall picture is clearly dominated by the instincts of the European rave scene. And when The pEneLOpe[s] cover The Beastie Boys’ Sabotage, they do it with the joyful abandon that brings to mind Hot Chip rather than the originators of the song.

Listen to “Demian”

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Buy the album on: iTunes | Amazon