Les Thugs

I don’t know if the fact remains that Rock n’ Roll is an English thing. After hearing Japanese punk band Hi-STANDARD and French band Les Thugs; I really feel that anyone who has an appreciation for loud hard music can pick up a guitar and play, no matter what race, sex, or nationality you are. The desire to speak out and play your instrument for the world to hear, transcends all of these limitations society places on us. So because of this I think anyone with an open mind will embrace Les Thugs compositions, basically the French version of that hyperactive version of music, punk.

Now when I say punk, I don’t mean like Pennywise or The Exploited, no not that aggressive. It’s more like the Buzzcocks and old stuff by The Stranglers (who Les Thugs reminds me a lot of); more like punk with harmony and melody. Whoa there! Don’t start freaking out! When I say melody and punk, I don’t mean Green Day or that style of pop. Although Les Thugs uses pop elements in some of their songs, they sound nothing like Green Day or any other of those countless imitation bands that are suddenly popping or “POP”ing up in the music scene. In fact, on their new album on Sub Pop, (they’re really trying hard to get away from that grunge tag they had), entitled Strike, the band has more musical depth than most bands these days. Another interesting tidbit of info for all those people who sneer at all those punk bands who use melody in their songs, Les Thugs; not only are they French, (trust me when you read their lyric sheet it shows), they’ve been playing their brand of music for years, and they are very big in Europe. And in my opinion, any person who is an Underground music fan and doesn’t like simplicity in punk is an idiot. I mean let’s face it kids, the punk music scene was founded by bands like The Ramones, Iggy and the Stooges, Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, Generation X, and countless others who couldn’t play very well. That’s what made this scene so appealing is that the groups’ simple rhythms were a fresh break from annoying stadium bands of the 70s like Boston, Kiss, and Chicago. I’m not saying Les Thugs have no talent and can’t play. On the contrary they have interesting simple melodies that are put together very well, giving the listener enough catchy harmonies to stay transfixed on. The band is a four piece; with Eric doing guitar/vocals, Thierry on guitar, Pierre on bass/vocals, and Christophe on drums/vocals. The three vocalists trade off the lead singing job on different tracks, again adding to the engaging sounds of the recordings. Some of the songs on Strike are pop harmonies: “Summer” and “Waiting”, others are slow: “Strike,” while even others along at breakneck speeds: “Poison Head” and “Allez les filles”; giving the record varied tempos so that the listener doesn’t become bored with the same style of song being played over and over again. The tracks on the record were engineered by underground legend Steve Albini (one of my personal favorite musicians, Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac; for those interested) who has a talent for constructing big sounds for Indie records and Strike is no exception. But the musicians who obviously enjoy what they do, keep the listener at an easy pace, like a runner casually in stride during a grueling marathon.

A couple of days before the huge Girls Against Boys/Therapy? show, I was handed the Les Thugs CD and told that the band would be opening for the show. After listening to Strike, I was impressed by the fresh, imported sound that the band develops on the record, and decided to do an interview with them. Since I was doing stories on GVSB and Therapy? it was a little hectic to find time to talk to them, but eventually I sat down with drummer Christophe and, with the exception of the strong French accent that at times made it hard to follow along with, had a pretty interesting talk. Here’s how it went:

SLUG: Do  you find it difficult touring through America?

Christophe: The thing is that it’s our fifth time that we’ve played the U.S., so we start to get used to it. Of course it’s different than France, because we’re bigger; we play bigger venues. I think this tour especially is going really well. I mean, we have a good van, we sleep in a motel, we eat well, we have a good conscience to play, we get to sound check, and so for us this tour is really good. 

SLUG: Have you noticed more people getting into your band?

Chr: It’s hard to compare before, the thing is every album that we put out in the U.S. we sell more copies each time, perhaps because people start to notice. That’s why it’s so good for us to be on tour with Therapy? and Girls Against Boys, because we are fortunate to play in front of more people. While I think if we played by ourselves, nobody would be there since they don’t know who we are. So we are fortunate to be with better known bands. Actually we are better known in the U.S. in places like all the west coast, but in all the middle west and east coast we are almost not known at all, so it’s good for us to play in front of people and show them who we are.

SLUG: So what inspired you guys to play the music that you play now?

Chr: We started to get really involved in rock music in ‘77, with the Punk rock bands; especially with the English and French bands. Not that many U.S. bands, from ‘77 it was really English bands, like Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, and French band… (can’t pronounce or spell that one, sorry). So we like this kind Hüsker Dü and The Replacements, and that kind of mixes with all the types of music that we like.

SLUG: How does it feel to be on a big indie label like Sub Pop?

Chr: Yes, it’s already good for an American band, and for a French band even better, because we are the only French band on an American label who come to play here; so it’s also a very good promotion for us in France. So far people are really active in France looking for music in England and U.S, so if they know that the French band is going to play the U.S. on an awesome record label, they think it must be great. Before we toured the states in ‘89, French people weren’t that interested in us; then we toured the states and hooked up with Sub Pop, journalists in France thought it was the most interesting, so being in Sub Pop has really helped and has been great. Being on the label we like these guys very much and they were the first American label to be interested in us.

SLUG: Do you get very nervous playing in front of people who don’t know who you are?

Chr: No, I guess I feel less nervous then in France when we play in front of ten thousand people. They know the records and they want you to make it the most beautiful gig, they probably saw you before so they can compare you to other shows. So I prefer the audience that don’t know us at all, so no I feel more relaxed when people don’t know us at all, there’s no pressure; except the only pressure is personal, and that’s to play well and to make a good gig for ourselves and for the audience. I know if we play excellent and if we do our best, people can like it, and if we do our best we have a…how do you say…good conscience. 

—Kevlar M

Read more interviews from the SLUG Archives:
Jawbox
Van Gogh’s Daughter