Canif & Diana Ross - Looks Like Miaou - Looks Like Miaou (2012, Bon Voyage)
If you ever find yourself hitchhiking around the outskirts Marseille, France, chances are you’ll run into a commune of old-school lifestyle punks. They live together in a secluded village, put on parties, give each other home-job tattoos, the works. Two of them, Constant and Chloé, even make music under the name of Looks Like Miaou. Or at least this is the story that underground Brisbane label Bon Voyage put to us in framing the duo’s debut self-titled LP.
The drum machines and abrasive vocals prevalent on the album inevitably draw comparisons to Suicide, but the music still ends up sounding surprisingly fresh and accessible. With slightly less angst and a touch more rave, The Engine could pass as a gritty Crystal Castles demo, and once the bubbling electronic accompaniment kicks in on Chevreuil Rodeo, it’s hard to not draw comparisons to LA noise-pop band HEALTH. Despite the distorted, fuzzed out guitars, and the disconsolate lyrics that between French and English, their debut album is memorable and undeniably likeable. (From a review I did for Rave Magazine)
