Les Sans Culottes is a French-language rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The group performs primarily original material and some covers of French rock songs and French-language reworkings of some classic American rock songs. Their name is a reference to the citizen soldiers of the French Revolution and also the more contemporary slang term for "no underpants."
Les Sans Culottes | |
|---|---|
 Les Sans Culottes at Irving Plaza New York City, September 8, 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York |
| Genres | French rock Garage rock Ye-Ye Indie rock |
| Years active | 1998–Present |
| Labels | Vibratone Records Escargot-Go Aeronaut Records Digital Club Network |
| Members | Clermont Ferrand : vocals Kit Kat le Noir : vocals Brigitte Bordeaux : vocals Jean L'Effete : guitar Benoit Bals : keyboards M. Pomme-Frite : bass guitar Jacques Strappe : drums |
| Past members | Gigi Soleil Albert Camembert Jean Luc Ritard Beau Pantalons Luc Panatalons - aka Le Marquis! Celine Dijon M'Arc de Triomphe Max Gauche Francoise Hardly - aka Jeanaté Gilles Pamplemousse Lola La Chaise Malcolm Smart Ali La Pointe Axl Rouge Pascal Blase - aka Horace de Bussy Jean Paul Georges-Ringo Jacques Sheer-Rock Cal D'Hommage Maurice Chevrolet Roget Bontemps Geddy Liaison Pierrot Le Fou Joe Camus Anouk Ennui Harry Covert Theo Neugent Sid Vichyssoise Johnny Dieppe Courtney Louvre |
| Website | Official website |
History edit
The band was formed in 1998 by Detroit native and Brooklyn transplant, Bill Carney, dubbed Clermont Ferrand after the industrial city in central France.[1] Carney had travelled to France and developed a deep interest in French pop and yé-yé music of the 1960s, particularly artists such as Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Jacques Dutronc and Nino Ferrer.[2] The band made its debut in April 1998, at Freddy's Back Room, a neighborhood bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.[3] The original lineup was singer-frontman Ferrand, vocalists Kit Kat Le Noir and Gigi Soleil, drummer Albert Camembert, bassist Jean Luc Retard, keyboardist Beau Pantalons, and guitarist Luc Panatalons - aka Le Marquis!. The band has had several line-up changes over its more than 23-year history while maintaining original vocalists Ferrand and Kit Kat Le Noir. Its current line-up consists of vocalists Clermont Ferrand, Kit Kat Le Noir and Brigitte Bourdeaux, along with drummer Jacques Strappe, guitarist, Jean L'Effete, bassist, M. Pomme-Frite, and keyboard player, Benoit Bals.
In 2005, the band's guitarist and drummer attempted to start another French language band with some former members and others and to call themselves "Les Sans Culottes". The original group brought a trademark infringement claim in Federal Court in Manhattan which resulted in a court order barring the new group from using the name of the original group. In 2013, Les Sans Culottes singer, Clermont Ferrand, recounted the legal battle surrounding the Les Sans Culottes band name.[4]
In July 2009 the band played its first ever shows in France, performing at La Feline and L'Opa Bastille in Paris and at the 18th annual Festival des Musiques d'ici et d'ailleurs in Châlons-en-Champagne. The group has also toured nationally across the United States and in Canada.
Their music has been featured in numerous ads, on television programs and movies, including for Hewlett-Packard digital cameras, Google Nexus S smartphone, HBO's Cathouse, Working Girls in Bed, and Entourage programs, FX's The Strain, MTV'S The Real World and Surf Girls and The CW's Gossip Girl as well as the movies The Hot Chick and Dalton Calhoun.
The band released its ninth album, She Is Tossed By the Waves But Doesn't Sink, in April, 2018.[5]
Discography edit
- Les Sans Culottes (1999, Escargot-Go Records)
- The Ennui and the Ecstasy (2001, Escargot-Go Records)
- Faux Realism (2002, Aeronaut)
- Full Frontal Crudité- Live in Paris (2003, Digital Club Network)
- Fixation Orale (2004, Aeronaut)
- Le Weekender (2007, Vibratone Records)
- 'Pataphysical Graffiti (2012, Vibratone Records)
- The Gods Have Thirst (2014, Disques Escargot-Go)
- She Is Tossed By the Waves But Doesn't Sink (2018, Disques Escargot-Go)
References edit
- ^ Graff, Gary (May 28, 2015). "Sound Check: Les Sans Culottes brings rock with a French flavor". The Oakland Press. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ Handlebar Jack (November 27, 2007). "Les Sans Culottes: n'est pas faux-french". The Deli. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ Robbins, Liz (March 18, 2011). "The Transmigration of a Brooklyn Saloon". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ "Friend or Faux : The True Story of How Some Former Band Members Tried to Start a Les Sans Culottes Copy-Cat Band Called "Les Sans Culottes."". Les Sans Culottes Blog Post. July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
- ^ "Pop and Rock Shows in New York City This Weekend - July 19-July 21". New York City Guide. July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
External links edit
- Official band web site
- Official YouTube Channel
- Les Sans Culottes SoundCloud
- Les Sans Culottes page at Vibratone Records
- Interview with Clermont Ferrand - Rocker Magazine
- Profile on The World from PRI and the BBC
- Followup on The World from PRI and the BBC
- Review of La Feline show
- Review of Châlons show in L'Union