Following the runaway success of their first album, « Elephant Love »/2015, the young duo Ropoporose might have been feeling the pressure: the dreaded sophomore effort, the mature record... all that bullshit. But Romain (drums and a whole bunch of other things) and Pauline (vocals, guitars and a whole bunch of other, other things) - the siblings behind this enigmatic name - are still happy to act as if the world ignored their existence. While that is no longer necessarily the case, considering the sound of their new album « Kernel / Foreign Moons », it’s an attitude which seems to suit them very well indeed.
The album was developed in a patchwork way over three years until Romain and Pauline got into the studio with Thomas Poli ( who also plays guitar for the likes of Dominique A and Lætitia Shériff, among others, and who went above and beyond as producer on this album ). One could be forgiven for missing the hidden meaning behind the duality of the album’s title « Kernel, Foreign Moons » : the band are making a distinction between one set of songs which was written in a certain spirit, at a certain time (None, Horses, Spouknit...), and another, which represents a slightly different direction in style and process (Skeletons, Barking In The Park, Holy Birds...). There are also thematic distinctions to be made, some of the songs are firmly down-to-earth, close to nature (Horses, Fishes Are Love, Barking In The Park), while others turn their gaze toward the heavens (Spouknit, Moon). That said, it would be a stretch to call it a concept album... in any case, who really cares about a fancy glass when the cocktail it contains is so wonderfully intoxicating?
Each one of these dozen oddities goes from strength to strength effortlessly, often taking surprising twists and turns throughout the course of a tune : from Pauline’s bittersweet vocals (« Holy Birds », « Spouknit »), to vital, resonant guitars (« Horses », « Moon », « Spouknit »), from woven rhythms reminiscent of Tortoise (« None », « Electric ») to dreamy cavalcades of modular synth (« Holy Birds », « Faceless Man »). We’ve still barely recovered from the totally wild « Guizmo », which sounds like it’s escaped from summer camp, or the sublime « Barking In The Park », which could be the soundtrack to a Western, albeit one depicting an unfamiliar frontierland; the track also makes use of the “Homeswinger”, an instrument designed by the band with the help of Yuri Landman, the favoured luthier of Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore.
Their jubilant mixture of kraut, indie pop, noise, math-rock, lo-fi and bubblegum never fails to make people hum along, no matter how idiosyncratic and full of unexpected breaks and changes the songs are, as if they were Britpop anthems. It can all seem so simple, instinctive, and casual, when in fact it’s often brilliantly imaginative, self-determined and masterfully rendered.
If, in an alternate universe, young versions of Blonde Redhead, Stereolab, The Pixies and The Moldy Peaches had decided to jam together after school in the late 80s, while possessing a
clairvoyant picture of the future of music - perhaps thanks to a batch of special brownies offered up by the long-haired guy next door - we’re not even sure the result would be as high-class as what this pair has just created. Now it’s time to see the world through Ropoporose-coloured glasses.
