Staff Reviews

Housse de Racket - Alésia

Review by Alex Yau

What Housse De Racket lack in terms of a trademark sound, they make up for in wonderful reproductions. »

Buy now from:

housse de racket are the parisian duo pierre leroux and victor le masne. starting out as in-demand session musicians-for-hire with local bands air and phoenix the boys were simultaneously making their first steps as housse de racket. second album 'alesia' lookss set to establish the band as a force to be reckoned with. having written a batch of new tunes pierre and victor met with philippe zdar, the respected parisian producer and one half of cassius, to play him some demos. highly enthusiastic, zdar followed the album's creation from start to finish, getting increasingly involved, in between his sessions with the rapture, stimulating the boys' curiosity at every opportunity and encouraging them to break every rule they have set themselves. as the ideas for the album took shape, housse's touring away from their native france gives the album an unusual thread: of their homeland seen from afar. resulting in multiple references to their own culture: chateau and alesia (french history), empire (cinema's auteur theory), les hommes et les femmes (the french outlook on relationships). amongst all the complex harmonies, from the futuristic chaos to the timeless pop anthems, housse de racket have given new life to a certain psychedelic heritage, though they relate far more to today's era of electro pyro-technicians than yesteryear's prog-rockers. trust us, when the archaeologists of the future look back at 2011, 'alesia' will have established itself as one of the cornerstones of 21st century french pop.
description from www.roughtrade.com