Who will it be? Les Sans Culottes (left) or Nous Non Plus (right)?

Remember Parisist's review of Nous Non Plus from a few weeks ago? Once upon a time, Nous Non Plus was part of a band called Les Sans Culottes. Then there was a coup d'état and a lawsuit (read more here). Suffice it to say, there's no love lost between these two bands of yéyés.

Subsequent to our review, we received a comment and an email from a member of the re-formed (though never reformed) Les Sans Culottes, encouraging us to disbelieve "the ministers of propaganda" and judge their music for ourselves. Never ones to ignore a challenge, we took this request seriously: a few of the Parisist staff writers have listened long and hard to the two groups, and have accordingly set forth their comparative judgments.

And really, who better to adjudicate between two fake French bands than a fake French website?

We rated them according to the following rubric: Authenticity, originality, musicianship, and overall listening value, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the equivalent of listening to your neighbor's kid play "Heart and Soul" on the piano for hours, and 5 being the musical sublime.

Here are our responses, after the jump-- why don't you have a listen as well and let us know what you think?

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Souvenez-vous de notre article sur Nous Non Plus en début février? Juste après, nous avons reçu un commentaire et un courriel de la part de l'un des membres des Sans Culottes, qui nous engageait de mépriser les "ministres de la propagande" et former notre propre avis de leur musique.

Nous avons pris en charge leur demande: quelques critiques de Parisist ont profondément écouté aux deux groupes, et ont ainsi produit leurs jugements comparatifs.

D'ailleurs, qui mieux pour prononcer sur la valeur de deux groupes faux français qu'un site Web faux français?

Nous les avons soumis aux valeurs suivantes: Authenticité, originalité, talent, niveau de ringardise, et valeur générale, sur une échelle de 1 à 5, où 1 égale le gosse de votre voisin jouant au « Heart and Soul » au piano pendant des heures, et 5 égale la sublime musicale.

Voici nos réponses, et nous vous encourageons d’en ajouter les vôtres dans les commentaires !

Anna
Les Sans Culottes have a more throwback French psychedelic 60s rock sound like my Pop à Paris compilation. Fun as a novelty but REALLY annoying when those songs keep coming up on your iPod. They also look like they were alive back then. (Yes, I'm making ageism a factor). Their myspace page gives the impression of the group revolving around the lead singer, propping up his ego like a crutch. Les Sans Culottes should retire their dancing pants and leave the fun to those that do it better.

Authenticity: 4 (cred for having the idea in the first place)
Originality: 3 (songs sound the same!)
Musicianship: 3
Overall listening value: 3

Nous Non Plus is clearly the hipper, better looking, snarkier incarnation of the fake French band. Their "One Night in Paris" (about the Paris/Paris liaison) had me cracking up (He was an heir. He had great hair./ What's a soup kitchen? I don't know either. That's hot! C'est chaud.). The song is catchy enough to allow me to forgive the annoying fake French accent the singer was sporting (Luckily the real Frenchie sings most of the songs.) Nous Non Plus is undoubtedly the bigger hit on the dance floor (blasé hipsters being no judges) incorporating the ever so popular electro elements and varying their repertoire.

Could they be the next Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

Authenticity: 4 (they did something else with the idea)
Originality: 4
Musicianship: 4
Overall listening value: 4

Lauren
Les Sans Culottes
Even on their early albums, before the present-day members of NNP left, the songs fell sort of flat-- they were entertaining in and of themselves ("Ménage à Toi," "Telephone Douche" and some great covers of "Poupée de cire" and "Les Cactus"), but seemed imitative, instead of inventive. And now that the band has reformed itself around the one original member, Clermont Ferrand, the songs are still okay-- I'm thinking of "Coeur vagabond" or "Merci beaucoup"-- but just don't get off the ground.

Authenticity: 2 (they sound like Paris by way of Jersey. New Jersey. So much so that I'm thinking maybe this is on purpose?)
Originality: 2 (they don't do anything interesting with the concept)
Musicianship: 2
Overall listening value: 2

Nous Non Plus
How much did NNP take with them from their LSC experience? It's impossible to know which group to credit with the best songwriting, and still, the final execution reveals the two bands to be worlds away from each other. The best analogy I can think of is two wines grown in the same vineyard, from the same grapes, but then one gets mixed with 80% grapes from another vineyard while the other only adds 25% of other grapes, from a still different vineyard, and then both are left in the same oak barrels for awhile, and then finally you bottle them and drink them and voilà! The difference is astounding-- the former tastes ok, like a standard vin de table, but the latter is a much more interesting blend, with some really clear, spicy notes-- a wine you're proud to serve your friends at a dinner party.

Authenticity: 4
Originality: 3 (it wasn't their idea, a fake french band, but they do it better)
Musicianship: 4 (they're just tighter, and more talented)
Overall listening value: 4 (they've been given a permanent spot on my iPod)

Meg
Would I want to download any of these songs? Listen to them as I walk along on a sunny day? Not really. I couldn't find a single track from LSC that needed a second listen. Nothing that would ever be stuck in my head. The closest to that from NNP would is "Fille Atomique" - a very poppy song that's moderately catchy. "Lawnmover Boy" is repeating on me now, but with a feeling more like indigestion than pleasure.

What keeps both of these bands going is gimmick and, in the case of NNP, sex appeal. Members from both bands have ridiculous stage names - those in NNP are just funnier. And yes, NNP does a better job of packaging their gimmick - their singer is hot, their promo image is a girl in her knickers, the band photo is taken in bed, and their video is soft-pornographic enough to have been banned from You Tube. What's more, they've done a fantastic job of making LSC look like a bunch of no-fun spoil sports, and everybody loves a good drama.

Since musicianship isn't really part of the equation (they're both kind of crap) I'm gonna go with NNP on the grounds that they at the very least turn me on.

Authenticity: 2 for each
Originality: 2 for each
Musicianship: 3 for NNP, 2 for LSC
Overall listening value: 3 for NNP, 2 for LSC

There you have it: Parisist has spoken. Now you decide!