Quick Take: Yelle

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 30, 2008 3:27PM

A friend of our described Yelle's show a bit ago in New York as "a bunch of kids jumping up and down with their hands in the air for an hour." They were pretty spot on with that image.

Yelle played to a sweaty, steamy Logan Square Auditorium last night, and while we were amused by the spastic dancing of the attendees, we were impressed with the showmanship of the 25-year-old Frenchwoman on the stage. Yelle, decked out in a mini-dress straight out of a Cyndi Lauper video, dashed about the stage, striking poses, beating drums, and shaking her head like she was at a metal show. And the crowd loved her, responding to her every hair flick. Dancers crowded the stage near the end of the show for the ebullient "À cause des garçons" and threatened to force her two bandmates -- manning drums and synths -- to abandon their instruments.

The energy of Yelle's songs, and her pleasingly peppy voice, truly makes her music universal. This is even more evident when you consider the fact that even though she sings entirely in French, the audience responded to her every utterance with glee. Granted, this makes for an amusing moment or two --- our favorite part was all the boys pumping their fists to "Je veux te voir" while obviously having no clue what the song is actually about. But when the tunes are so delicious, who cares?

Photo of Yelle by Kevin Tachman from her Myspace page