Viva la Resistance

Concocted during a road trip, the spoof band Everybody was in the French Resistance… Now! consists of Eddie Argos from Art Brut and Dyan Valdes from The Blood Arm. Together, they hatched an original idea to refurbish old pop songs that they felt weren’t as sensible as they could have been. Enter Fixin’ the Charts, the duo’s debut album that sets all of your favorite chart topping tunes straight.

Catchy piano and keyboard rhythms start off the album on “Creeque Allies” which is soon met with Argos’ off harmony vocals and Valdes’ lovely backing vocals. Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” is the next target on “G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I got A),” which tells the story from the perspective of the boy who is relentlessly hounded by an obsessive would-be girlfriend. Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is present on “Billie’s Genes” sung by the bastard child who develops contempt for his father as well as Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” which describes the fry-cook janitor who is just biding his time until he releases a record on “Coal Digger.” The musical formula is pretty consistent throughout the album, allowing for slight homage to each song’s original, but is lyrically quite clever.

Fixin the Charts delivers exactly what you’d expect from a collaboration between Art Brut and The Blood Arm. To the average music listener, the album might sound like a wasted $15 (or whatever CDs are going for these days), but for those who are fans of Argos’ and Valdes’ style or know a majority of the songs parodied, then the investment may be well worth it. What this French Resistance Now debut lacks musically it more than makes up for in witty lyrics.