Pierre Barouh is a true renaissance man: actor, soundtrack composer (he co-wrote much of the fabled score to A Man and a Woman with
Francis Lai), director, label head (he owned the estimable Saravah label, home to
Brigitte Fontaine and others), and on occasion, singer/songwriter. His first solo album since 1971's
Ca Va, Ca Vient, 1977's
Viking Bank sounds rather like a more straightforward (not to mention less pervy) version of
Serge Gainsbourg's '70s work. Like
Gainsbourg and
Fontaine,
Barouh was one of the few French pop artists of the era who didn't move into a sugary middle of the road style, but
Viking Bank is less experimental than his contemporaries' work. In fact, with its blend of acoustic guitars, strings, and keyboards, plus the gentle lope of the sweet and memorable melodies, the closest comparison is that
Viking Bank sounds uncannily like a Francophone version of
Paul McCartney's
Ram! Furthering the
McCartney parallels,
Barouh even throws in a cute but catchy duet with his wife Dominique Barouh, the almost childlike and borderline sugary "La Nuit des Masques." [The CD reissue adds two tracks, most notably the excellent bossa nova homage "Perdu."] ~ Stewart Mason