French Cowboy
Baby Face Nelson Was A French Cowboy

"Babe Face Nelson was a French Cowboy" is the first album by French Cowboy, a French band as unknown as they are talented. The album was released in 2007, and I discovered it by chance: I was going to see Crystal Castles in Switzerland, and before them, these French Cowboys were playing, so I listened to the few songs available on YouTube. And they were part of this wonderful album.

This is the first and probably the last review I'll write, and I'm doing it only to try to earn a bit of deserved fame for the French cowboys.

In bold are the best songs in my opinion. 

 The album opens with "Stranger", a lively guitar ballad, sung with brazen nonchalance and very cowboy in its entirety. It continues with the lively "Shake", which has an adorably arrogant and party-like tone in the style of "sonosbronzoamecheccazzomenefregafanculo". The third track is the hyper-melancholic "Happy as can be", stunning, perhaps the most beautiful of the album with a sweetness and melancholy that pierces the heart. Beware, don't listen to it too much because it's the kind of song that can lead you to alcoholism, trust me. Then there's the light and fleeting "The letter U", a nice acoustic song that you listen to in the evening when you're tired. Here we are at "Le ballade de Baby Face Nelson", where guitars with long, low notes follow a chat between the two singers, all with a slight touch of psychedelia. "Leather boots", the most serene on the record, offers natural landscapes in the mountains, a valley with a small clear river and around it the pastures of cows kept in check by our cowboys; a carefree song, perhaps a bit romantic. Federico Pellegrini's voice is the main instrument of "Second skin", a particular voice with a certain je ne sais quoi of despair. "Supermarket", one of my favorites, stands out from the rest of the album; it's a garage piece, almost punk that goes into a crescendo of nihilism to burst into the final chorus which is a kind of punk/happy as I like it. "Dis-moi", a ride overshadowed by a trumpet. "Share", a wonderful folk piece with choirs alternating with the solo voice. I'm sorry but I'm a bit tired of writing, I'll also point out "Dreams", which is very, very beautiful. 

In conclusion, it is a shame that such a particular, heterogeneous, modern and archaic album, this new alternative folk (I am a great lover of revivals like the 90s punk revival or Sparklehorse's new Country) has so little commercial success. It's also quite an easy album to listen to, even if very melancholy. I know this review is terrible, but trust me, the album is really worth it! On Spotify, you can find it complete!!! Enjoy listening to the French cowboy!