Bright Lies

Description

From a distance, a rock band in 2025 may resemble an artifact from the past, a pretty souvenir, a species on the verge of extinction kept alive by a few nostalgic souls unable to turn the page, who recycle clichés without any updates. Yet, perhaps it is the fragile and indescribable beauty of continuing to grind out bass-guitar-drums in an era like ours: there’s not much to gain, simply creating a space of freedom, a creative and collective emergence. Pop Crimes is one of those bands that can, with two riffs, a few snippets of lyrics, and a lot of sweat, remind us of what still makes us want to cling to guitar rock, timeless and indestructible. There is always a form of inexplicable alchemy in that moment when four scattered personalities become a band, a multi-headed hydra, a micro-world that captivates listeners. It’s not about turning water into wine (though it could be) but rather transforming the torments of adulthood into unstoppable pop songs, and in this little game, Pop Crimes knows how to play. With Gathered Together, their debut album released in 2023 (Howlin Banana, Safe in The Rain, Les disques du paradis), the Parisian band skillfully laid the groundwork, delivering urgent and electric music, catchy but never disposable, that cleverly blurs temporal lines. They drew from post-punk, indie pop, and garage to narrate contemporary emotional harshness, the quest for comfort, the daily struggle to exist on the fringes, without completely losing one’s grip. Skillfully navigating between underground references and the desire to make crowds sing, Pop Crimes outlined the contours of their stadium rock for packed pubs, a total catharsis in the enjoyment of popular music that is entirely handmade. Back with Bright Lights, recorded live at the 4A Sound Factory by Guillaume Siracusa (Spécial Friend, Young Like Old Men) and without a safety net, the band is now writing a new, brighter chapter. The album opens with the electric ballad "Open My Eyes," and while listening to the interplay of voice and intertwining guitars (backed by a bass/drums duo tighter than ever), it becomes clear that Pop Crimes has matured and is now capable of making a recording sound as if it were playing in the next room. Alive, relentlessly effective, and catchy. "Promises," cast in British asphalt, gives full space to the bold and moving vocals that take us wherever they want, fist raised and head slightly dazed. When the band slows the tempo on "I Wish I Could Saved You But Did I Really," a waltz of a life-battered crooner, one feels transported back to the dirty pavements of the Lower East Side at the end of the 1970s. "Should I live in my dreams" plays with shifts in rhythm and tone, standing firm in its modern and moving post-punk boots. Finally, "Sunrise" is another moment of b