The Noughties have seen folk groups come and go, and they were all pretty much the same; The Dodos were unlucky then to be caught up this stream of flotsam and jetsam and so were forced to redouble their efforts to stand out from the crowd. And how they have done so. With only two of them at the beginning, and then three as of 2009, these Californians seem to have had no difficulty in winning over the critics. In France, les Inrocks dubbed them worthy descendants of Arcade Fire with their new album 'Visiter'. And it's true, the two groups are similar in lots of ways - although we're more tempted to consider it plagiarism than genius. The Dodos' music oscillates between simply-composed folk and rock, with an easy-listening feel - however sometimes accompanied with feelings of déjà-vu which spoils it all somewhat. No doubt that they would have a hundred times more success if they had got together 10 years earlier.
There will also be SAmBA De La mUERTE, without a doubt the most under-valued French band. This can be blamed on the terrible obsession with looking elsewhere for discovering new good folk bands - when there's a crop of talent right here in France such as We Were Evergreen or Dorian Pimpernel, who haven't received the success they deserve because of this. Thanks to songs like 'Fire' or 'Hawai', we continue to have faith in this group from Caen.
