Kim Novak - Luck and Accident
by John Clarkson
published: 31 / 1 / 2008
Label:
Talitres
Format: CD
intro
First rate debut album from early 80's influenced new French group, Kim Novak
Despite taking their name from the 50’s actress, French group Kim Novak’s music is rooted in another musical era, that of the early 80’s. One gets the impression from listening to ‘Luck and Accident’, their debut album, that its four members, Jeremie, Ugo, Cyrill and Hairday, have a lot of Joy Division and New Order in their individual record collections, but also early Depeche Mode and even Billy Idol. Yet, especially in Jeremie’s angst-torn and sung-in-English vocals which have a shrill, otherworldly etherality, and just for sheer diversity, Kim Novak, however, have much of their own as well. Many of the eleven songs on ‘Luck and Accident’ start simply and then escalate in sound, climaxing in washes of synthesiser and more occasionally My Bloody Valentine-style distortion. In ‘Turn’, a tale of love gone cold, with its jangling, super-melodic synthesiser beats and its mid point sudden eruption of flailing guitar, Kim Novak have created a pop classic. ‘Female Friends’ is similarly effective, beginning and ending in a snappy two and a half minutes, and which, coming to the conclusion that sex always gets in the way and that men and women can never really just be friends, finishes in a surging joint frenzy of guitars and synths. Although Kim Novak are possibly at their best when they are loud, they can also, however, do quiet. The contemplative ‘In the Mirror’ is a mournful, spoken word ballad which finds Jeremie accompanied by just a softly, tingling guitar for its first half before being joined by an equally hazy synth, while ‘If’, another story of love that has not worked out, is a torch ballad that with Jeremie’s tortured, theatrical vocals recalls Scott Walker at his strongest. ‘Luck and Accident’ is a very fine debut offering from this most promising new French group.
Track Listing:-
1 Better Run2 Swallow
3 Turn A Rabbit
4 Lost At Play
5 In The Mirror
6 If
7 Female Friends
8 Around Your Neck
9 Some Photographs
10 Crash
11 On My Back
Label Links:-
http://www.talitres.com/en/https://www.facebook.com/talitres.rds
https://twitter.com/talitres
https://instagram.com/talitres/
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart