Gwendoline is the Sound of French Peri-urban Cities

"C'est à moi ça", the second album from Brest shlagwave duo Gwendoline is released by Born Bad Records.

Our new record of the month is the not-so-happy second album from Gwendoline, one of the newest entries in the ever-expanding roster of French sadbois with synths. This entry is yet another directly inspired by a review I made on Goute Mes Disques.

Olivier Razemon, journalist and essayist, has theorized the death of our regional and subregional city centers in his book Comment la France a tué ses villes [trad: How France killed its cities], arguing that the fault lay mostly with the planification of huge commercial zones on the outskirts of those cities. To my knowledge, he was not able to write about one of the most singular cultural consequences of this long decline of peripheral France: the appearance of multiple bands of cynical men singing their misfortunes on cheap synths.

Here is the Unofficial Atlas of French Sad Bois:  Ventre de Biche [trad: Doe Belly] from Lyon, TG Gondard from Brussels, Les Clopes [trad: Cigs] from Nantes, Rhume [trad: Common cold] from Biarritz, Monsieur Crane from Bordeaux… but you also could add most bands from the informal collective named La Grande Triple Alliance Internationale de l’Est [trad: the Great International Triple Alliance of the East], mostly located in Strasbourg and Metz. 

Shlagsplaining Gwendoline

Our new entry, Gwendoline, a common first name for women, is actually two dudes from Brest - the furthest western city of metropolitan France, hometown of other notable sadbois like Miossec and Abstract Keal Agram. In French collective imagination, Brest is cold, grey, rainy and windy.

Gwendoline define itself as shlagwave which is synthwave with a little bit of shlag energy. Shlag (or schlague) in French slang is an insult meant to target the inability of one person to build a decent life for themselves. Shlag is synonymous with dirty, lazy, gross and stupid. English equivalent insults could be deadbeat, bum, drifter or simply loser.

Last month, Gwendoline released their second album, barely two years after their first, named Après c’est Gobelet ! [trad: Afterwards it’s a cup!]. To contextualize this weird title: when the bar is closing, you get to keep the remains of your last drink in a plastic cup, that you will invariably spill on the pavement.

But what a glow up: C’est à moi ça [trad: That's mine] is released on Born Bad Records, one of the best record labels in France, specialized in both French post punk and exotic compilations of forgotten songs.

The themes remain the same between the two albums: the exoticism of suburban cities, holidays in shitty camping resorts, the daily life of the provincial who wants to leave, depression and alcoholism...  On Si j’préfère [trad: If I’d rather], our imaginary losers compare the benefits of pizzas, kebabs, cigarettes… culminating in “I don’t know if kissing you makes me feel good or bad”. A bit cringey but I wish them a long career nonetheless.

Fortunately, Gwendoline stays on the left-side of politics, almost “gilet-jaune” [trad: yellow vest]. On le sang de papa et maman [trad: the blood of mom and dad], they talked about the social reproduction of the bourgeoisie, in the manner of our best known French sociologist couple (the Pinçon-Charlot) with a MicroKorg. 

To stand out, Gwendoline adds a classic trait of other French rock bands: talent. The production is flawless, the instruments are well played, everything is very well mixed. It sounds like a gentrified minimal wave, even the synths found at flea markets are still there. As an example, the single Rock 2000 includes several melodic riffs and no less than three different ways of singing (Gwendoline’s ambition flies high).

Generally speaking, Gwendoline is not afraid to write anthems : Merci la ville [Trad: Thank you, city] is the best song on the album and the ideal song to end a concert. It’s not a surprise they already made it to Rock en Seine, Paris main rock festival.