1973 are named for an unfinished song. The chorus was big and rousing with only one intelligible word - "1973" but the verse melody never worked out so they abandoned it, keeping the title as a tribute. It makes sense, as as a musical entity 1973 owe nothing at all to the seventies but flipping great lovin' spoonfuls to the sixties. The Gallic three piece are steeped in the late sixties Californian vibe, there are huge strummed 12 string guitars, snaking Rickenbacker leads and lush multi-part harmonies. There are sad eyed girls, wistful memories and concerted willingness to give up the city life and get it together in the countryside, which in fact they did, recording the album in three weeks in the bucolic splendour of Le Perche in central France.
"September" is gorgeous, swooning ice-cream pop, with a sexy minor-chord chorus and 10CC harmonies. Nicolas Frank's voice has a classic M.O.R pop voice, with an agreeable rasp to give it an edge. The titular "Bye Bye Cellphone" strips the big-sound down initially, before Motown drums crack like ice and the backing vocals are ramped up and it becomes a huge suetty pop pudding. Delicious, but I bet you can't eat three! "Princes" is neatly Beatley with its sing-song rhyme scheme and huge, distorted chorus. The distortion is immaculately groomed - there's no room for dissonance or noise on a record as nicely turned out as this. This is pop with clean finger nails.
"Sexy Plane" is, without being a lazy journalist, and yes I appreciate the hubris in calling myself a journalist, is Phoenix, with a bit of blusey guitar and "Little Sis" is a melancholy, close miked affair, with a wheezing harmonium and nifty guitars. It's very pretty, has a very funny rhyme scheme and very, very disciplined. If this is the boys hanging out in the country album I can't imagine how uptight their jacked-up on-caffeine-and-neon-city album would sound!
"We are nowhere" is huge, starting with delicately plucked guitars, and space-rock echos, until the big drums kick in and Mellotrons and Hammond organs collide like celestial bodies. It's very Spiritualised, very dense and very, very nice.
This whole album is very nice. But who would buy this? It's so...competent. This is craft-pop. Every joint neatly dove-tailed, every harmony layered, every corner flush. It's lovely. Is there a market for lovely?
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