"LA Murder Hotel"

I find it really hard to listen to something from Europe -- France in particular -- with a negative bias against the music. They've got too good a track record, and while there's plenty of junk coming out of the country, that sexy foreign style overrides any let downs I experience. Maybe I should be more judgmental, but hey, my current outlook only opens me up to a more diverse range of styles and genres.
And Poni Hoax does a pretty good job of covering up their intrinsic French-ness, I must say, so I was a little surprised to read that they hail from Paris. Listening to their stuff is indeed confounding, though ... traces of kraut-rock throughout, hints of a love for DEVO, and an obvious desire to be tacked on some DFA-released mix (sometimes I feel like Nicolas channels Alex Kapranos). While all of their tracks have their own unique characteristic -- "She's On the Radio" being their whacked-out electroclash tune and "Budapest" being their stylish, moody and atmospheric dance track, for example -- there's something uniting about everything. The sultry vocals, the smooth synth lines, the crisp, bouncy guitars and bass lines, the layering of a surprising number of melodies and hooks ...
They've got their stuff together. Listen to additional songs of their on their MySpace page.

Poni Hoax - L.A. Murder Hotel