I thought that I know somehow or other about the early French punk scene, because I have some old V/A tapes, but these bands are totally unknown for me.

„The first French incarnations of “Le Punk” (pronounced “paink” in numerous locales) were not carbon copies of their foreign exemplars.(…) There was nothing and no one to forge a connection between the handful of small, isolated groups, fundamentally motivated by a passion for what they deemed true rock ‘n’ roll (the desire to terrorize the neighborhood arrived soon afterward), each in their own little world, trying to provoke their backwater village or their lame metropolis. (…) It was not a movement of any kind, contrary to what was said later. (…) In the photos, we do not see Johnny Rotten’s cousins, but rather an unlikely, haphazard and disorganized bunch.”

Paink. French punk anthems 1977-1982

by Born Bad Records

Edited for the exhibition ” EUROPUNK” at Cité de la Musique
Paris from October 15 2013 to January 19 2014.

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The Novella is a Breeders-like British girl group somewhere between the one-note fantasias of The Velvet Underground and the perpetual rhythms of Neu!

Murmurs – cassette EP by Italian Beach Babes

„If you don’t have a tape player, it’s just a fancy box for a download code.”