These Guys Are French?
Electronic band goes rock and sells iPods

Filed under: Album Reviews, Recent Releases

You may not have heard of Rinocerose, but if you've seen the latest iPod commercial, you've heard them. That's their song, "Cubicle" being played as a virtual city is being built by CD album covers. It's an edgy little number that you would expect from a band like the White Stripes or Jet, but Rinocerose is actually an electronic "dance music" band. And they're from France.

Like their English counterparts the Chemical Brothers, Rinocerose is a duo performing catchy, synthesized dance music with crunchy, hook-laden guitar riffs. Self-proclaimed a "house-with-guitars" unit, the band has released their newest collection of hard-hitting funk, Schizophonia. It's quite a departure from the band's usual output, focusing more on guitar-driven vocal efforts than the more danceable, disco-like efforts of their earlier works. Nearly all the tracks are vocals, albeit from guest vocalists.

Aside from "Cubicle," highlights from Schizophonia are "Get Ready Now," "Fiction Dancer" that sounds a bit like the Pet Shop Boys, and "Bitch" with a vocal so close to Bon Scott, you'd swear it was a lost AC/DC tune. Other times the band rocks with the funk we used to expect from the Michael Hutchence-led INXS.

On the whole, I am not a big fan of dance music or even electronic. But Schizophonia does what so much electronic dance music doesn't - it keeps the listener interested. While I occasionally enjoy bands like the Chemical Brothers, the songs I like most are when they use guest vocalists (such as Noel Gallagher of Oasis or Beth Orton) - it's a shame they don't do more. Rinocerose does recognize this, which is what makes Schizophonia such a good album - it's club music for those of us who don't like club music.

Anybody looking for dance music to scratch that itch left by INXS, the Fixx and other pop/rock of the '80's should check out Schizophonia. Who knew the French knew anything about Rock 'n' Roll?