Le rock francais

Scott Miller sent me a demo of a band he produced called Swan Plastic Swan. I think they are quite promising, and you can definitely hear a bit of that Game Theory vibe in a couple of their tunes, but to me, their biggest hurdle is the fact that they're from the land of brie and berets. Nothing against the French -- I'd love to visit the country someday -- but when you say the words "French rock band" to the average music fan, what comes to mind? Most people probably assume it's merde even if they've never heard any French rock. That would make breaking a French group in this country extremely difficult. If you have a foreign country that's exported a few successful bands -- look at my own homeland of Sweden, with the Hives, the Sound, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Komeda, Jose Gonzalez, etc. -- people are more willing to give other musicians from that country a shot. There's a bit of a bandwagon effect. But as far as I know, not a single French rock group has broken through here, even on an underground level.

Here's the Wikipedia entry for "French rock." I've only heard of a handful of the bands listed. I really liked Rita Mitsouko back in the 80s, and there were a couple big Etron Fou Leloublan fans at my old college radio station. Anyway, do check out Swan Plastic Swan on MySpace and let me know if you think a French rock revolution is in the offing.