Mushrooms Cloud the Sky

After two great singles, "I'm Dead" (HoZac) and "Je Ne Suis Pas Trés Drogue" (Trouble In Mind), French yé-yé time machine The Limiñanas are back with a full-length. It is the tastemakers behind garage label TIM (and garage group CoCoComa) who have taken upon themselves to release the LP, and their unique sleeve art is nicely adapted to the new format.

Musically, it's another home run for Marie and Lionel, with some help from their faithful guest vocalists Mu and Nadege. This is the best re-creation of the wild sound of mid-to-late 60s French artists like Antoine, Delphine and Ronnie Bird in recent years. It has been done before: April March, Fabienne Delsol, Cécila et Ses Ennuis... but it hasn't been done enough!

Most of the record stays within the lounge-friendly midtempo zone, but slows done on the "Bonnie & Clyde"-like "Berçeuse pour Clive". Since that was the b-side to their previous single, perhaps they should have left the a-side off this album, as it is very similar to opening track "The Darkside" (not a Shadows of Knight cover). "Chocolate In My Milk" mines the same Nancy Sinatra territory as their Italian colleagues Vermillion Sands, but perhaps not quite as skillfully. The duo are on top their game however, on the ultra-cool "Je suis une go-go girl" and the oriental-flavoured "Tigre du Bengale" (also included as an instrumental).

Pick up the 12-track vinyl (download code included) from the new TIM website now, along with the latest 7"s from Personal & the Pizzas, Wounded Lion and Vermillion Sands.