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Yelle: Louvre is a battlefield :: TTC comrade Yelle gets her electro pop ye-yeahs off.

By Chris Pacifico   Photography by Grégoire Alexandre

11/07/07 :: URB 150

It’s true, the golden era of yé-yé, the ’60s French pop modeled after the American girl groups of the time, ended decades ago. But long after it faded, Julie Budet, aka Yelle, has set her sights on creating the 21st century model of the songs that originally inspired her. “I used to sing every day at primary school,” exclaims the saucer eyed, pixie faced, 24 year old, who tags her sound as “booty pop” and boasts of being the “first fan of Johnny Depp.”

Her debut LP, Pop Up, is a spunky jumble of zippy electro chock full of mousy hooks topped with an 808 that kicks like a mule. Produced by Grand Mariner, who Yelle lauds as nothing less than a “genius,” Pop Up slaps high fives to the French Touch sound of early Cassius and Les Rhythmes Digitales while nodding its head to the jittery fuzz punk of Plastic Bertrand.

Usually garbed in clothing that makes her look like an extra from a Pat Benatar video, Yelle’s pizazz weaves the winsome innocence of her vocal flow precisely alongside the beats. On the single “Je Veux Te Voir” (“Short Dick Cuizi”), the prankish youth takes multiple jabs at Cuiziner from Parisian hip-hop crew TTC. But the beef is just a wink and a nod to the crew that she’s down with. “It’s not a real rap diss song” Yelle admits. “[It’s] just a funny electronic pop song.”

Having toured Europe and gained approval from her latest Australian outing, she adamantly declares that America is ready for Yelle, while giggling about rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of Gallic dance royalty. “I just met Gaspard from Justice in the elevator of the hotel and his new tattoo is just too big. He was kind of drunk when he made it.”