Soundtrack

Dead Kennedys in Bossa Nova (and Why It Works)

What happens when Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Dead Kennedys are rebuilt as quiet café music?

If you’re talking about the strange afterlife of post-punk songs, Nouvelle Vague deserve a mention.

The Paris project was started in the early 2000s by producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their idea was simple but oddly effective: take dark, angular post-punk and new wave songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s and rebuild them as soft bossa nova or lounge arrangements, usually sung by young female vocalists who often didn’t know the originals.

In a manner of speaking

The name is a double joke. “Nouvelle vague” translates to “new wave,” but it also references the French New Wave, where directors freely reworked older forms into something lighter, stranger, and personal.

Their first album in 2004 became a surprise international success. Suddenly these delicate café versions of songs by Joy Division, The Clash, The Cure, and Bauhaus were circulating far outside the original scenes.

Their most famous track is probably In a Manner of Speaking, which I always thought was yet another brilliant song written by Martin Gore.

I just want to say

The song actually began with Tuxedomoon, a group that emerged from the late-1970s San Francisco art scene. Post-punk, performance art, electronics, avant-garde composition. Lotta hyphens there & not catching on as well while Huey Lewis was coming up in the San Francisco music scene.

They eventually relocated to Europe, where they developed a cult following, releasing much of their work through the Belgian label Crammed Discs.

Europe proved far more receptive to their style of performance than the U.S. had.

In a Manner of Speaking — Nouvelle Vague (2004)

Give me the words

Many listeners, including myself, first heard the song done by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, who recorded a cover for his 1989 solo Counterfeit e.p..

Then Nouvelle Vague arrived with their version in 2004. Voice, light guitar, almost nothing else. It reveals how beautifully written the song already was. Without the electronics or theatrical delivery, the melody and lyrics suddenly feel fragile and direct. Small wonder it’s their most popular song.

That’s really the trick behind the whole project. These weren’t novelty covers. They exposed the songwriting. And while they’re not all amazing, there are several that are just beautiful and funny.

Beyond words

Nouvelle Vague does a lot of covers, now expanding to eras and genres beyond 1980s New Wave, but songs from that period are still my favorite.

Their 2024 version of She’s in Parties turns one of 1980s goth’s most theatrical Bauhaus/Peter Murphy songs into something that sounds like it belongs in a quiet Paris café.

They also did Love Will Tear Us Apart, but it is not my favorite. There are limits.

She’s in Parties — Nouvelle Vague (2024)

And then there’s their soft, almost dreamy take on Too Drunk to Fuck by Dead Kennedys.

I’m still amazed that Jello Biafra gave permission on that one, but he seems to be a lot more defensive of commercial uses. Of course, most of the DKs lyrics and messaging would be pretty toxic for corporations anyway.