Cœur À L’Index Adieu Minette LP
DOLLY MIXTURE references have been turning up so often in relation to the current wave of punks playing pop music that we might be witnessing the dawn of a new D(OLLY)-beat—the Brussels-based trio CŒUR À L’INDEX falls squarely into that camp, with a debut LP that’s eight sugar-coated servings of girl-group-inspired harmonies and pastel-tinted guitar jangle. Maybe it’s the crystalline French-language vocals and the clean, crisp recording (très power pop), but the ’60s-via-’80s striped-shirt bubblegum beat of “Rattrapez-Moi” and “Loin D’ici” had my thoughts immediately wandering to LES CALAMITÉS rather than DOLLY MIXTURE, while the plaintive “Parler de Toi” and “Ca M’ira” bear the afterimage of late ’00s/early ’10s C86 revivalists BRILLIANT COLORS, or flipping back further in the singles box, TALULAH GOSH. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until this renewed interest in pure pop for punk dreamers is completely run into the ground by lesser bandwagon-jumpers, so savor the sweet treat of Adieu Minette while you can.