Tag: les wampas

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Et Voilà: Taisez Moi, Didier Wampas

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Didier Wampas, of Les Wampas, has put out his first solo record. It is called Taisez Moi which, from what I can gather translates as either “Shut Me” or “Quiet Me”, and it is delightful.

It’s also really, really different from Les Wampas‘ sound. The catchy melodies are still there in force, but the big crunchy riffs and reverb have given way to a lighter, surfier, clap-along vibe.

I’m still working on parsing the lyrics – I don’t speak any more French now than I did before – but so far I’m particularly enjoying La propriété c’est du vol (Property is Theft) which is actually a love song on the theme of “I don’t want anything but you”; La folle de Marvejols (The Wild Marvejols) which I don’t (yet) know what it’s about but it has lovely orchestral elements; and Les framboises dorées (The Golden Raspberries), the bonus track on the iTunes version of the album, which has a great sing-along chorus.

Also, for all of you (other) fans of Ryan Ross (The Young Veins, Panic! at the Disco) out there: he played guitar on this record, and also contributed some back-up vocals to, as best I can tell right now, Eternellement, Chanteur de droite and Les framboises dorées.

And now, here is Didier Wampas with Magique, or as I think of it, the slow dance at the sock hop song:

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Video Spotlight: Les Wampas

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Good morning, NTSIBbers. Today we’re going on a virtual field trip to France! We are going to visit with Les Wampas, a punk band that has been around since 1983 but I didn’t know existed until probably about a month ago. And they are fantastic. They have become my go-to comfort music at pretty much all times. They do sing in French, but do not let that put you off. My facility with spoken French is approximately that of a very polite toddler, and I don’t find my lack of proficiency and/or comprehension a barrier to enjoying their music quite thoroughly.

The first song I am going to share is Manu Chao, from Never trust a guy who after having been a punk, is now playing electro (2003). It’s a diss track, but it’s a mild one. The lyrics, loosely translated, are along the lines of “If I had as much money as Manu Chao, I would go on lots of vacations” and Manu Chao is another  European rockstar.

It’s the track that floated up on shuffle as I was walking to class one night after visiting the 7-11, trying to balance my cup of tea and umbrella at the same time and thinking something along the lines of “Have I lost my brownie again?” and I really did stop in the middle of the street, circuits jammed with “What is that?“, “Where can I get some more?” and “I need to make it louder right now.”

 

Les Wampas - Manu Chao

 

The next one is Rimini, from Rock’n’Roll No. 9 (2006) and is a memorial song for Marco Pantanni, a Tour de France champion who died in Rimini, Italy, in 2004. The song is masterfully constructed; it starts with just Didier Chapedelaine’s voice accompanied by a simple, delicate guitar line and then, in something like a minute and a half, slowly expands to include another guitar, drums and fuzzy, thudding bass:

 

les wampas - rimini

 

Finally, a fan video from a show, filmed in Spain in 2009, so you can see them in action. Didier Chapedelaine is essentially leading the pit in an acoustic performance of Les bottes rouges from Simple et Tendre (1993) . The whole room is singing along, clapping out the beat, and carefully surfing him around all at the same time:

 

Les Wampas - Les bottes rouges / Alhambra - 2009.10.23

 

There is much more to listen to on the “Songs” section of their website, and you can also watch some webisodes they made to promote their last record over here. If nothing else the person running around dressed like an ostrich is extremely entertaining.