I Could Be Happy
Nouvelle Vague
(Kwaidan Records)
Three stars
Nouvelle Vague's I Could Be Happy adds the novelty of self-written tunes to the band's usual relaxed covers picked from superior rock and pop catalogues.
Songs by The Ramones, The Cure and others get radical makeovers. The surgeries are partly successful – the wrinkles are gone but so are some of the rawness and quirkiness.
There is no faulting the French group's latest selections, either, as Richard Hell's Love Comes in Spurts, Altered Images' I Could Be Happy and the Cocteau Twins' Athol Brose are all great and far from predictable.
The problem, such as in Love Comes in Spurts, is that instead of the tension in Hell's vocals and attack of Robert Quine's razor guitar there are obnoxious party sounds and a Catwoman-like narration.
The Cure's All Cats Are Grey is a treat. Melanie Pain's voice, backed by accordion and xylophone, reflects some of the original's mystery and despair.
Four originals in three languages, in the band's familiar styles, close out the album, with Algo Familiar and La Pluie Et Le Beau Temps the best of the bunch.
artslife@thenational.ae
