This is a good year for psychedelic music coming out of France.

With bands like Wall Of Death and Aqua Nebula Oscillator we were treated to some more straight forward psychedelic rock. Then we find ourselves listening to Le Femmes amazing record ‘Psycho Tropical Berlin’. This band knows how to channel the sounds of France’s past, immediately we hear the Serge Gainsborg influence. Dig a little deeper and you will find surf rock blended with the sounds of krautrock and the French 60s girl pop yé-yé. With a kaleidoscope of sounds hitting you on every level you might find yourself thinking somebody might have spiked the punch. Go With It! I don’t speak a single word of French but I find myself wanting to learn every lyric to sing along. The closest bands I can compare this to is possibly Stereolab or Broadcast (RIP Trish). Binge on this record, you won’t be disappointed!

Matt Yablonski

Le Femme – ‘Psycho Tropical Berlin’ (Barclay Records, 2013)