Retro Ye-Ye, Chanson: April March - Chick Habit 1995 (Sympathy For The Record Industry)

1995's Chick Habit was a complete turnaround from the ultra-twee and largely acoustic pop of April March's self-titled debut EP. Taking off from a lifelong interest in French music and culture (the former Elinor Blake studied in the country as a teenager), Chick Habit is a note-perfect re-creation of French ye-ye music of the 1960s. March, whose voice is a dead ringer for France Gall's similarly perky tones, borrows heavily from Gall's style and repertoire.

The title track is a fairly literal translation of one of Gall's biggest Serge Gainsbourg-penned hits, "Laisse Tomber des Filles," given a "Peter Gunn"-style twang guitar track and performed with a punky snarl. (The opening track is the same song performed in March's note-perfect French.) The remaining tunes are covers of other ye-ye songs, with the highlights being Jacques Dutronc's "Le Temps de L'Amour" (a 1966 hit for Dutronc's wife, Françoise Hardy),

given a smoky reading highlighted by a Dick Dale-style surf guitar played by guest star Jonathan Richman (a friend of producer and multi-instrumentalist Andy Paley, who leads the excellent band), and another dip into Gall's catalog, the dreamy "Cet Air-La." April March would, in varying degrees, explore this French pop obsession over her next several albums, but this is its purest manifestation. (Stewart Mason, allmusic.com)

There's nothing to add to that. Andy Paley does a great job of setting the stage. Besides the band, this testifies to Paley's musical class. Great album. Enjoy.(Frank)

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