Live: Kwak @ Blue Frog

French rock act Kwak played the Blue Frog on Tuesday, June 9. While we didn’t understand much of what the band was singing about, we did manage beaucoup fun.

Over the last couple of months, Mumbai’s premier live music venue Blue Frog has been nailing the obscure international artist efficiency. They brought down Dubai soul-rock act Abri last month, and they followed that up with French rock act Kwak earlier this month. Where Abri performed, as our review described it, “jazz-tinged, funk-filled R&B tunes”, Kwak’s music however was more orthodox alternative sung entirely in French.

As with most gigs at the Blue Frog presented by Alliance Francaise, the firang quotient on Tuesday night was high, and contributed to a larger that usual Tuesday audience at the venue. The Parisian quartet though, while without many of Abri’s histrionics, focused more on delivering potent tunes. The band combines the French tradition of chanson with the trappings of angular alternative in the vein of Franz Ferdinand and Maximo Park.

While we couldn’t understand much of what the band was singing about, the music itself was relentlessly efficient – each song allowing the members enough room to explore soundscapes while fitting into the construction their brand of guitar driven alt rock afforded. This was helped by the generally affable demeanor of each of the members who didn’t demand much of the audience, letting their music do most of the talking. It’s great to see an audience grow into a sound over the course of a gig like that, with the band’s enthusiasm only amplifying the exuberance of the mass.

While after a point some of their tunes did get a little repetitive, the band did a reasonable job of keeping the act itself fresh. Somewhere around the middle of the set, the drummer launched into a competent solo as the rest of the band went off stage. About 3-4 minutes in, the remaining three members joined the drummer for a terribly engaging drum performance occupying various cymbals and toms and playing to a certain, largely predetermined scheme. It was a fun addition to an already charming act.

Usually, our acid test for how we like a certain band’s sound is whether we’re compelled enough to pick up their music on the way out. We picked up Kwak’s third album Malice en la Demeure (Malice in the House) without hesitation at the exit.

Indiecision: B+

The band is currently on a mammoth India tour. Dates.