The Submarines opened up for Nouvelle Vague at the Fonda last week. I am usually not a big fan of seeing mellow bands live, I generally like to get up and shake my groove thang. But The Submarines were different. I just wanted to pull up a chair and rest my soul as they played on and melted my cares away. I think it’s a must to take your lady/guy friend to see them.
Nouvelle Vague killed it. A friend of mine told me he doesn’t know why I like them so much since they are just a cover band. I wouldn’t even call their songs covers. They take 80’s new wave songs and convert them into a French twist of 1950’s Brazilian bossa nova (new wave in Portuguese). What a concept! The songs still have some of their poppy, dancy, up beat vibes but they are completely different. And in my humble opinion, sometimes even better than the original. They have covered songs from Blondie, Joy Division, the Cure, and the Dead Kennedy’s just to name a few. On stage they were intense. The two women singers (who I believe to be Camille and Marina Celeste) were very sexual in a subtle way. It’s really hard for me to describe, I guess it’s something you just have to witness for yourself.
(ed. Their version of “I Melt With You” sounds pretty sweet from an ice cream truck)
