Send "Le Loup " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 "Le Loup" means "the wolf" in French. Sam Simkoff, frontman of the D.C.-based indie pop quintet that bears the appellation, claims he chose it to riff on all the other indie groups out there with the word "Wolf" in their names, self-consciously ratcheting up the pretentiousness meter by translating it into another tongue. It's a great joke that shows Simkoff has a keen eye for hipster trends, and his band's music is likewise plugged in to the zeitgeist. In interviews, when asked to tick off influences, Simkoff and his bandmates don't reach for ultra-obscure 1960s cult artists or hyper-ironic mainstream touchstones, but freely list folks like Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens, and Grizzly Bear. In contrast, for instance, to the glo-fi thing that has seemed to burble up fairly organically this year from various and sundry quarters, Le Loup's music feels like a direct reaction to what indie-rock's A-List has been cooking up over the past couple of years.You could certainly argue that Animal Collective belongs at the top of this heap as the reigning kings of indie, so perhaps it should be no surprise that AC is far and away Le Loup's biggest source of sonic inspiration on the band's sophomore LP, Family (again demonstrating an impressive feel for subtle shifts in subcultural taste, the group's 2007 debut was far more Sufjan-beholden). All of the most distinguishing AC traits are on display here, as layers upon layers of reverbed harmonies get distorted and smeared atop equally diffuse artilleries of percussion. It's an impossible comparison to shake, especially during a couple of really on-the-nose moments like the cymbal crashes of "Forgive Me" or the watery effects of "Sherpa". If you wanted to be somewhat cynical you could think of this album as a sort of palatable gateway drug for listeners who've yet to stomach Animal Collective's lengthier, noisier, more out-there head trips. Le Loup trade chaos and dissonance for reassurance and tranquility thanks in large part to an abundance of folkier accoutrements like banjo and mandolin, deployed throughout the album and utilized to particularly pleasing effect on the ruminative "Go East" and on "Morning Song", which hints at a recognition of Fleet Foxes' recent prominence....full text |
| Popmatters |
| The banjo has a very distinct sound. Much like the sitar or the bagpipes, it instantly conjures up images of a particular place: sitar = India, bagpipes = Scotland, and banjo = rural South. I mean, who hasn’t made a “dueling banjos” joke/reference before? However, over the last decade or so, the banjo has been getting a bit of a facelift via indie rock. Through artists like Sufjan Stevens, the Books, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and Le Loup’s Sam Simkoff, the banjo has become progressively more integrated into other genres of music beyond country and bluegrass. As the banjo becomes more integrated into other genres, its sound is triggering less mental associations with the South. If you ask me, this is a very good thing. I have always had a soft spot for the dulcet twang of the banjo and fully support its widespread use in all strands of music. On their 2007 debut, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly, Le Loup was basically bandleader Sam Simkoff’s home project and his tunes were heavy on banjo and electronics. On the band’s new album, Family, the banjo plays less of a lead role, as do the electronics. Family is a much more organic and band-centered effort—each of Le Loup’s five members sang and contributed to the songwriting. As you would expect with all those cooks in the kitchen, Family is a pretty eclectic affair, but it is also cohesive....full text |
| Culturebully |
| While the title of D.C. band Le Loup’s first album is a high-art mouthful, somewhat alienating in its impossibility to remember (The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly, for the record), that of follow-up Family is warm, comforting, and appropriate for the solid lineup that the band has now settled into. The title also says something about today’s modern family, often cobbled together rather than representing the traditional unit; Le Loup was formed primarily on Craigslist when Sam Simkoff needed a group of musicians to make his music into a tourable live act. It’s hardly the quaint tale of high school pals practicing hard and getting a record deal, but the current lineup represents a more usual if somewhat inorganic family, and, heck, they even packed up and took a stereotypical camping trip together. Le Loup trekked to North Carolina to do the “get away from society and record an album” thing, and Family is ripe with allusions to just that. The songs creak and groan with hints of nature’s influences, bulging with suggestions of mountain fables and exciting getaways. But, a fine duality exists in the fact that the group also manipulated their found sounds with effects and loops, adding a robotic, electronic element, one that makes them into a sort of Animal Collective on mushrooms instead of acid. Nature wins when Le Loup is at the helm, and their strange noises and heavy layering plant the tracks in modern technology while never quite letting it taking over....full text |
Le Loup lyrics
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