Simon I

SIMON I

2015

Pop rock, Comedy

About a year ago, we went to St-Hyacinthe with friends to do an escape room, and while walking around we stumbled on a record store. I bought a shitload of bad CDs (shoutout to Dolphin Dreams, the relaxation CD with dolphin sounds), but there was one album that jumped out at me and now I so very much regret not buying it. I instantly recognized the face as Simon Proulx, singer of Les Trois Accords, but the album was totally unknown to me. Also, all the song titles were in English? I chickened out, and I promised myself I'd stream the album later.
6 months later, I finally decided to give it a shot, and oh my god I should've bought that CD. It's a parallel universe, familiar but also totally out there, more absurd than anything Les Trois Accords ever said in their songs (yep, even the eggs and raspberries on an Asian woman!), and yet it feels so much less like a joke. Maybe it's because it's a solo project, or because it's harder to be funny in a second language, or maybe just because the production quality is a huge step up compared to their albums before this one. Still, you can totally hear the classic Trois Accords style (some songs even sound like stuff they've already done), the sometimes nonsense lyrics and the creamy guitar tones that make me cream all over the underside of my laptop. It's candy for losers like me who put Dans mon corps in their favorite albums of all time.

Face Cream

Such a cool song, it opens the album on a kind of surf-y note and Simon's voice has more swagger than usual (and his English isn't too bad either). The mix of clean and distorted guitars is super fun to hear for sure, there's so many little details like the choir in the bridge? The flute? And that insane key change???? It's definitely a different style than Les Trois Accords, and I'm HERE FOR IT.

Fleet Week

Well too bad huh, his good English accent only lasted one song... Anyways, this track's got so much energy and rhythm, a military cadence that's nailed down by the “Fleet week!” shouts and those drums hitting hard. Makes me wanna stomp my foot and shake my head fr fr no cap. The energy's managed so well the whole way through, with higher fleet weeks near the end and a final fill that's absolutely delicious.

Automatic

This song confuses me. Where's the joke, Simon? Like it's a good pop rock song, super cute with that little guitar going dugudugudugu and the tiny bell, and yeah there's some weird analogies, but there's no absurd through-line like you'd expect in a Simon I song. Don't get me wrong, I love this track (especially the backing vocals near the end, by Zeus...), it's just one more layer of weirdness in this album from another dimension.

Switzerland in June

For a song about table manners, it's got some inexplicable swagger. The chords are interesting (for a guy who's usually not adventurous with progressions at all), lots of tension play that gives it a unique vibe. He's not overdoing it with his voice, and it works damn well. Also that bridge?? I'll take a thousand please.

Submission

How many Quebecois artists do you know who write songs about how cool it is to be a bottom? Cause for me it's just him, and if I wasn't already the most submissive person ever he would have convinced me to try it. He goes absolutely crazy on the ukulele AND the pen. I mean seriously:

If you want me to be somebody else / You can train me like an animal!

Me too Simon... Me too... Not much else to say about this one except that it's just so good and I'm never gonna be able to not imagine him being dominated if I go to another Trois Accords show.

Tired All the Time

This song is literally me. It's super mellow, he's taking himself really seriously just to say he's tired and needs a nap. The grammar's kinda busted, like here:

No matter how day start / No matter how day go

That's rough as hell. But we forgive him, cause that violin (clearly a synth) in the second verse and the hi-hat groove in the choruses are divine. And the bridge has such an epic list:

I lie down / And nap so good / And then I rest / Before I go to sleep

Move over David Goudreault, we've got a new writing genius.

I Hope

Eh, this one doesn't hit as hard for me. Feels too classic Trois Accords, which clashes a bit with the rest of the album. I find the raw guitars kinda harsh, but that creamy guitar in the instrumental bit is swag. Not bad, just not the one I'm gonna put on repeat.

Day Job - Modern Art Sculpture

Goddamn this is my song. It's electric, it's in your face, the 8 constant guitar hits are so cool and the message speaks to me. Like come on!

But pulling harder on a flower won't make it grow

Genuinely that's such fire lyrics. And that chorus, holy shit... When he screams I get a dopamine spike. The bridge gives you a sec to breathe before jumping back into the action, and before you know it the song's over. Short, sweet, violent, if this track was a woman I'd stutter talking to her.

Singing About Singing

Oh a campfire song! First few listens, there was one detail that ruined it: that damn flute. But somehow, probably Stockholm syndrome, now I love that loser instrument. Otherwise, it's a cool track! It's unifying, not super complex, makes you wanna sing along, do we really need more than that? Except more flute of course, but that'll never happen...

Exquisite Leisure Time

Hosannah in the highest, my prayers have been answered! More flute! This track feels like a slower version of the last one. His voice sounds great on it, and it's got real end-of-album vibes. The gradual buildup of instruments is really well done, and it closes the loop on a truly singular experience. Plus we've got my favorite Simon quirk cranked up to 1000, cause if it's fun to hear him find words no one else uses in a French song, hearing him say "I'll hold the rudder" genuinely made me laugh the first time cause it's so random. Honestly, that feeling sums up Simon I as a whole: it's nonsense, but it's fun as hell.

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