Chocolat

It's sort of relaxing, every once in a while, to listen to a band that solely sings in a foreign language like Chocolat, a Quebec five-piece. You get the opportunity to listen to the music only and not be distracted by show-stealing lyrics, deep meanings, and all that fun poetic stuff (not to sound terribly stupid -- I'm a lyrics man most of the time ... and "Le Monde Est Vert" is in English and radio-ready; the Canadian response to "Up the Bracket" -- an absolutely gorgeous, wonderful song that I must, that I demand to hear someplace else that's not my computer).

Anyway, anyway. These folks are not to be missed. The eponymous Dry & Dead-released EP is a throwback, a reverent ode to proto-punkers/pub rockers (Iggy Pop, the Stooges, MC5, and Dr. Feelgood and garage rockers of old like the Kingsmen and, you know, the bands that started the whole the _____s trend nearly a half century ago.

And there's something Dylan-esque about the vocals ... maybe that's just my imagination.

You get the point. They pull from a rainbow array of influences that all fall under the harder, rockier categories, and apply the sound to a 21st century-accessible form. You really, really ought to buy the EP, just to get a kick out of boss cuts like "Johnny Depp" and "Le Monde Est Vert," but you can also just download half of the thing below. Come on, support these guys!


Chocolat - Le Monde Est Vert

Chocolat - Johnny Depp

Chocolat - Magalie