Breakout 2007: Les Breastfeeders

06/15/09 12:06pm

by Phil Villeneuve (CHARTattack)

Hometown: Montreal, QC

Sound:
Imagine, if you will, throwing a troupe of high speed '60s pop and garage rock singers and a full-time tambourine player into the microwave, setting it on high and frying ‘em until they explode. Poking at the electric rainbow splatterings of their innards wouldn't be as much fun as Les Breastfeeders.

Why?
With a name like Les Breastfeeders, it's hard not to stand out a little bit. But the Montreal garage rockers do that even without their maternal appreciations. They sing and scream in French, play wildly fuzzy dance rock, have a singing mod-babe named Suzie McLeLove and a tambourine player who likes to drop his drawers.

"Most of the time people just want to dance and party with us and that's what we're there for," says guitarist Sunny Duval. "We've been lucky enough to have been booked in the right places and also being French in the States and English Canada makes us more noticeable than if we were just singing in English."

Les Breastfeeders have been playing the Montreal French (and English of late) circuit for some time, winning over critics and collecting a diverse fanbase. Their live shows have a reputation for being sweaty dance parties where sitting quickly becomes a crime. Thanks to their celebrated Les Matins De Grands Soirs, which was recorded by Ryan Battistuzzi of Malajube, the band have had a buzz following their noisy trail. Lead singer Luc Brien and McLeLove sing about dancing "Le Yah!," le "freddy" and "nitty-gritty," but also belt out smart songs about love, hate, politics and poetry.

"Thanks to bigger English bands from Montreal, the media have still been paying attention to the Montreal music scene," Duval says. "This allowed for the English and French scenes to merge in a way because there are more bands and venues than there were 10 to 15 years ago.

"There's now a crossover and it's a really good thing.

Being part of a music scene so vibrant and healthy that a band like this one can perform, record and tour, is another really, really good thing and Les Breastfeeders know it.

"We're really poor, so getting to play around the world, to me, is one of our big dreams," Duval says. "We're also really intense people together, so to keep playing and stay happy together is another. It's good to have small dreams."

Official Site: www.lesbreastfeeders.ca

This feature is from the February 2007 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, go to the Chart Shop.