Kim Novak

THEE Kim Novak was in one of my absolute most favorite films of all time. So when I got a message on MySpace from a band by the name of Kim Novak I was intrigued. Little did I know how much I'd be listening to their music over the next five days. The three songs you can download (two of which are posted below) on their MySpace page have been in constant rotation here at EAR FARM headquarters. These songs make me think of songs by some really outstanding bands that I love, bands like The Cure, Interpol, and The Velvet Underground.

Kim Novak has this say about themselves:

From France, the four members of Kim novak, haunted by diversified influences such as indie pop, soul music and classic rock, manage to combine a melodic, groovy and electric setlist.

Now, I can't say for certain (given that I've never seen them live) but I'm almost positive they're totally selling their band short here. I mean, they could give themselves a little bit more credit in this bio for being a fantastically gifted group - from what I can tell the four people in this band are making just the kind of music needed to battle the likes of all of those damn NME bands we all hear so much about every day.

The song "Female Friends" starts out with a little nod to "Take on Me" in the drum beat and harkens back to that frequently mined post-punk/new wave era; but does so in the vain of The Cure circa Three Imaginary Boys, which also happens to be one of my favorite records ever. "In The Mirror" is the song that reminds me a bit of The Velvet Underground and I'm sure it's semi-intentional (at the very least) given the shared lyric "I'll be your mirror". At any rate, it's a first-class song in terms of mood and lyrics...both of these tracks are. Come to think of it, maybe they nailed a lot of what they're about with that short bio. They sure do make some fantastic "melodic, groovy" music and I can tell that Kim Novak has been "haunted by diversified influences". Thank goodness for those hauntings.

Listen:
"Female Friends"
"In The Mirror"

Go check Kim Novak's MySpace site for live dates if you're in France...oh, wait, I mean...Si vous habitez en France cliquez ici pour voir des dates de concert.

(Er, something like that. Sorry, I've forgotten so much about how to speak French it's embarrassing.)