Music Review: Les Colocs

Quebec has an interesting music industry. For starters, it's divided into four main styles: "Rock" , "Modern Pop", "Old Pop"(pre 80's) and "Rigodons"(usually played around new years). Artists today usually dabble in either rock or modern pop, with the occasional "Rigodons" for the holidays. However, the Market is small and harsh due to language barrier, and it used to be even worse than it currently is. In the 80's, bands had a harder time getting attention with their videos and music due to the lack of any type of funding. This problem lasted up until around the start of the 90's, where artists helped popularize the use of music videos and created a market which was much stronger in that aspect. One of these bands was "Les Colocs", which has reached a legendary level and has  left a permanent mark in music history.

"Les Colocs" is a french band from Montreal,Quebec that was created by Dédé Fortin by literally looking around and recruiting various potential band members, regardless of their background and ethnicity. They where well known for their cultural diversity, their use of funny, yet often meaningful, lyrics and their "party music" style, which would cover various musical influences ranging from rock to blues and even to some country and jazz. Thanks to their various backgrounds, a massive amount of instruments where used to create their various songs, something not so common in most bands at the time. The intruments would range from the standard guitar and saxophone all the way to the harmonica and even Dédé's own two feet

Tap Dancin', yo.

The band has two official studio albums and one live album. The first album, entitled "Les Colocs", was released in 1993 and contains most of the band's big hits. The lyrics display a cynical view on society as seen from someone who grew up around the "lower class". Various subjects that are covered involve troubled kids, broken homes, towns being taken over by corporations, AIDS, low self esteem and many other political and social issues, all which are brought up using humor and clever writing. The songs on the album are immensely diverse, with each one sounding completely different from the previous and yet, managing to fit together quite nicely. Upbeat and joyful, the music will make you want to get up and move, faithful to the band's status as a "Party Band". My personal favorite is the song "Passe moé la puck", which has a heavy rock influence to it, as well as some very entertaining beat box segments. The lyrics reference TV reports on the homeless, listing the act as annoying, manipulative and just a waste of time. It's also famous for it's line "Passe moé la puck pis j'va en compter des buts!", which translates to "Give me the puck and I'll score some goals!", a metaphor illustrating the lack of options some people have in life due to their circumstances. The success of the first album put the band on the map and they became more and more popular, going from a simple pub band to a mainstream rock band.

Les Colocs completely changed the band for their second album

However, half way through the 90's, things started to go sour for the band after losing one of the leads, Patrick Esposito Di Napoli, to AIDS in 1994. This event started Dédé's downward spiral into depression, especially with most of the original band members leaving soon after Napoli's death, only making things worst for the artist. The second and last official studio album from the band, "Dehors Novembre", came out in 1998 and reflected Dédé's current state. Although it keeps it's diverse style, the album is allot darker and more serious than it's predecessor. The subjects it covers relate more to escapism, or more precisely, coming back to reality after trying to escape it. Due to the band being completely re-created for the album, it covers even more different styles than the first one, using elements of country, reggae and even storytelling, not to mention one of the songs is completely written in English. The instruments used are as diverse as in the first album, with the exception that Dédé didn't do any tap dancing this time around. The lyrics for the songs talk about escaping from reality, being helpless at the worst times, regretting your past, being left alone and without any way of being able to escape the life you now hate and other subjects. The cynical views present in the first album are now even more present, only with a view from the inside instead of the outside, with fake happiness, conformity, as well as being told what to do over choosing what you want are other subjects that the album also covers. My personal favorite song from the album is "Tellement longtemps", a song about someone who is having fun for the first time in a long time, most likely while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Overall, the album is by far better than the first, at least quality wise, though due to it's darker themes and tones,  it's not as fun as the band's earlier work and I can't say I would recommend it to just anyone, least not before recommending their earlier work.

On the 8th of May 2000, two years after the second album was released, Dédé Fortin finally caved in to depression and committed suicide, thus ending the band. There have been tributes to Dédé following his death, including complete albums and shows dedicated to him from friends, old band members and artists that where also huge fans of his music. A movie, entitled "Dédé, à travers les brumes", was released in 2009 and was generally well received. The movie focuses on Dédé and serves as both a Biography and a tribute to his memory.

After listening to the band's albums, I can easily say that they are well entitled to the place they hold in music history, if not more. They promoted cultural diversity and experimental music, inspiring future generations to do the same. I highly recommend checking the band out, especially their music videos, which are quite impressive, in and of themselves.

Final Verdict: 9/10
What I like:
+Amazing musical variety, both with their instrument and styles
+Great humor and clever lyrics (First album)
+Great lyrics that might make you reflect on life(Second album)
What I disliked:
-I have no negative comments towards the band, other than the fact that I will never be able to see them live.
-Some songs tend to drag once you heard them a few times. Luckily, this doesn't make the album suffer to much.

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