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ROCK&ROLL

Paris, France

About

They have the sound, they have the attitude, and they certainly have the name. Still it's impossible not to be baffled by the arrogance of a band that nonchalantly declares, "We are ROCK&ROLL!" The king cobras of the new wave of French rock are damn right to be cocky. In less than a year these four refined hooligans have become the darlings of the music and fashion worlds alike. As V Man describes so eloquently, "Imagine the Ramones dressed by Beau Brummel in a dandyish blur of black leather, velvet and sweat." Their stylish silhouettes pervade the most cutting-edge fashion magazines from Dazed and Confused to Crash, Self-Service, Madame Figaro, Mixte and Elle, and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld even made them his muse, going so far as to photograph their album cover. And the music? Well if this is anything of an indication, the definitive French rock magazine, Inrockuptibles, elected them best new band of 2006 out of a pool of 7000 contestants. As they say: "The English have an expression to define what we are: the next big thing."
Amidst the tsunami of media coverage, it's hard to believe that it was only a year ago that four well-bred Parisian boys, Gricha Berekachvili, Paul Louis Viguier, L.A.M.F. and Matthias Cadéac d'Arbaud, decided to create a band that would embody everything they love about rock and roll, its essence, spirit and sexual energy, with the help of audacious English lyrics and infected by an aristocratically French sensibility. They soon become the figureheads of the Parisian underground thanks to shambolic performances that combine an electrifying stage presence with delightfully snobby musical references and incredible sex appeal. It's no surprise they pack the trendiest venues of France and steal the show when opening for indie stars such as We Are Scientists and The Editors. Critics, like this Elle magazine reporter, can hardly believe the level of intensity produced by the group: "On stage the rock fury becomes free to the sound of the frenzied moanings of Gricha, singer of staggering charisma, who makes Mick Jagger look like a choir boy." They decorate the bastion of chic that is club Paris Paris with artistically hung rolls of toilet paper and open for personal hero and godfather of punk Pete Shelly after jibing him "You're not the Buzzcocks, you're the small cocks!" Rock and Folk, the greatest French music magazine alongside Inrockuptibles, lauds their "perfect looks and songs with ideal pop format" while celebrating a band that displays "as much harmony as chaos and even flights into delirium like when ROCK&ROLL is joined on stage by an enraptured tambourine man, otherwise lawyer of the band Vincent-John Soimaud." As Dazed and Confused makes the point, "the self-assured ROCK&ROLL have silenced initial japery about their name by proving to be true showmen."
At the end of June, ROCK&ROLL released their limited edition four-track "First Class Plane EP" which quickly hit Itunes' top 15 and sold out after a month. It prefigures the international success of a band that has given the French Touch new life by trading the syrupy pop-rock sound of bands such as Phoenix and Air for danceable guitar riffs and throbbing drumbeats. With music critics, fashion editors and trendsetters all tapping their feet to the sound of the four handsome enfants terribles, Inrockuptibles issues the following warning: "Hide your sisters, ROCK&ROLL is in town." And ROCK&ROLL to add "Your mothers and daughters too!"
Marc-Edouard Leon & David Hache

Exclusive Worldwide Management:
Georgina McAvenna c/o DAS COMMUNICATIONS, LTD.
83, Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10024
E-Mail: gmusic@dasgroup.com

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