Louise Attaque

Louise Attaque is a French chanson/folk rock group founded in 1994. Several of the group's albums were produced by Gordon Gano, lead singer of Violent Femmes, a band whom Louise Attaque often cites as an influence and for whom their own band is named. The band is signed to the Atmosphériques record label.

Louise Attaque
OriginParis, France
GenresFrench rock
Art rock
Folk rock
Years active1994–2001
unofficial four-year hiatus
2005–2007
2007-present
LabelsAtmosphériques (French)
Ki/oon Music Inc. (Japan)
Websitehttp://www.louiseattaque.com
MembersGaëtan Roussel (vocals, guitar)
Arnaud Samuel (violin)
Robin Feix (bass guitar)
Alexandre Margraff (drums)

History

Caravage (1990-1994)

Lead singer and guitarist Gaëtan Roussel and bassist Robin Feix met in high school in Montargis. They moved to Paris after graduation where they met drummer Alexandre Margraff and formed a rock band named Caravage (after the Italian painter Caravaggio). After briefly hiring a lead guitarist, the band met violinist Arnaud Samuel while recording in a Parisian studio.

Louise Attaque's success (1997-2001)

Louise Attaque was formed in 1994. The name means "Louise Attacks" in French and refers to Louise Michel, a 19th-century anarchist, and to the American rock band Violent Femmes (which loosely translates from French as "violent women"). The leader of Violent Femmes, Gordon Gano, produced Louise Attaque's self-titled debut album.

Louise Attaque was released in April 1997 to a positive critical response. Despite low initial radio airplay, the reputation of the group spread rapidly, garnering particular praise for its innovative violin-based folk/rock compositions and witty lyrics. Louise Attaque sold 2.5 million copies in France, a record for a French rock album.

It took almost three years until Louise Attaque's second album Comme On A Dit was released (in January 2000), again produced by Gordon Gano. The album sold 700,000 copies in France. In 2001, after touring for five months and appearing at various rock festivals, the band split up, explaining that they were temporarily out of inspiration and tired of the hype and pressure surrounding them.

From separation to reunion (2001-2005)

Louise Attaque split into two different groups in 2001. Singer Gaëtan Roussel and violinist Arnaud Samuel formed Tarmac, while bassist Robin Feix and drummer Alexandre Margraff formed Ali Dragon. The goal of Tarmac was to explore the starker sounds of acoustic instruments, while Ali Dragon produced underground experimental music featuring jam sessions (mostly electro and hip hop).

The four members of the group reunited in 2003. After recording for a few weeks in the Electric Lady Studios in New York, their third album, À Plus Tard Crocodile, was released in September 2005. The title references the rock and roll song See You Later Alligator. À Plus Tard Crocodile was received as a departure from Louise Attaque's previous works, with lighter and more varied content.

Usage in media

Louise Attaque are mentioned during À plus !, a German language school book teaching French.[1] During the "Civilisation" part of the book, they are described as "a rock band which is well-known by French teens [...]".[1]

Awards
  • 1999: Victoire de la musique in the category Band of the Year.
  • 2001: Victoire de la musique in the category "Rock Album of the Year" for the album Comme on a dit.
  • 2006: Victoire de la musique in the category "Pop/rock Album of the Year" for the album À Plus Tard Crocodile.

Discography

Albums
Year Album Peak positions Certifications
FR
[2]		 BEL
(Wa)
 SWI
1997 Louise Attaque 1 4  –

FR: 2x Gold [3]

2000 Comme on a dit 1 1 10
2005 À plus tard crocodile 2 2 7
2016 Anomalie 3 4 8

FR: Gold [3]

Compilation albums
Year Album Peak positions Certifications
FR
[2]		 BEL
(Wa)
 SWI
2011 Du monde tout autour 6 4 91

Singles
Year Single Peak positions Certifications Album
FR
[2]		 BEL
(Wa)
1998 "Ton invitation" 10 14 Louise Attaque
2006 "Depuis toujours" 41  – À plus tard crocodile
2011 "J't'emmène au vent" 87  – Du monde tout autour
2015 "Anomalie" 111  – Anomalie
gollark: How is such a crazy polity or whatever still around then?
gollark: Well, that means you might run into problems with attacks not visible on them.
gollark: Second!
gollark: How do you find such jobs, anyway?
gollark: Cool.

References
  1. À plus !. ISBN 978-3-464-22070-2. p.29/ p.144/ p.154. Cornelsen Verlag (Berlin, Germany).
  2. "Tal discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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