Interview: Lùlù

Luc Simone Discusses The French Power Pop Band's Debut Album

Lúlú live. Photo by Non Deux Non.

Some of the most exciting new power pop is coming out of France these days.

That’s home base for Lùlù, a Lyon/Marseille-based “super group” featuring members from area acts including Pogy et les Kéfars, Irnini Mons, AVIONS, and Edgar Suit. Singing in French and Italian, they first injected new energy into the international underground last year with their playful, self-titled lead single.

“I decided to write sort of a theme tune for Lùlù, which is about friendship, showing and up for one another; kind of a feel-good song about taking things one day at a time,” vocalist/songwriter Luc Simone told me for the interview below.

Lùlù’s guitar-forward, hook-heavy sound adds elements of ‘77 punk, garage rock, and glam to create an infectious 10-song collection on their debut album.

“I use ‘power pop’ when describing our music because it’s the main inspiration for our sound and it’s such a vast definition. I would add that ‘hooky,’ ‘catchy,’ ‘sweet,’ and ‘energetic’ are all perfect words to describe it,” Simone said. Lùlù’s line up also includes Sabrina Duval (bass), Simon Perrin (guitar), Théo Serre (guitar), and Fanny Bouland (drums).

I caught up with Simone to discuss the old school recording of their self-titled debut album, the band’s upcoming shows in France and Germany (while setting their sights on Italy and Scandinavia), and the possibility of future U.S. tour dates (with your help).

Lùlù (from L-to-R): Théo, Sabrina, Luc, Fanny and Simon. Phot by Léa Boeglin.

Luc Simone Interview

Your new album is fantastic. Can you tell me a little about how and where it was recorded?

Luc Simone: Hi! First of all, thank you so much. The album’s reception has been overwhelmingly lovely.

The album was recorded live, except for vocals and some overdubs which were tracked later, in August 2024. I had been recording demos for a year prior to that. Everyone’s always very busy in this band so we really made the most of our time and were super efficient practicing the songs. I think it took a total of about 5-6 rehearsals before recording the album. I remember that the band learned to play “Pugni in Tasca” and “Sur la Corde” literally the day before recording!

Regarding recording, we also kept things simple and our rhythm guitarist, Simon, took care of both tracking and mixing the album in our practice space. He’s done a stellar job if you ask me, considering the limited time and resources we had.

Your sound is perfect for my tastes—a combination of power pop, ‘77 punk, garage rock, and glam. How do you describe your own music?

Luc Simone: Yeah, I think you pretty much summed it up! Going into the writing of these songs, I was aiming for a mix of classic ‘70s power pop à la The Nerves, The Numbers, The Keys, and glammy/hard rock à la Thin Lizzy and Sheer Mag.

Looking back on the final recording now, I see there’s a lot of different influences in there, especially from Scandinavian punk rock, Motown soul, and even a tiny touch of melodic punk and hardcore.

Is there a big scene for this kind of music in France at the moment?

Luc Simone: The answer is yes! In my previous bands, I never really felt part of a ‘scene’ or anything like that, but there’s a really cool scene of power pop going on in France right now, spearheaded by Alvilda and Les Lullies, I’d say.

There’s a great scene in Marseille as well, with bands such as Flathead, Kael et les Remords and Pogy et les Kéfars (all bands our lead guitarist Theo is or has been part of). I think there’s a very French archetype that we call ‘loubard,’ which is slang for a bad boy-ish/no-gooder type figure, that complements perfectly the spirit of power pop and explains this explosion of new power pop bands taking inspiration from the ‘60s, ‘70s, or Oi-related punk.

Both romantic and kinda gritty, there’s really something special about French power pop right now.

The album's lead track, "Lùlù," is a favorite song from the past year. What's the story behind that one?

Luc Simone: Thanks! When I realized that these demos that I’d recorded were going to become a full-fledged album, I thought that there’s one thing you can only do once when forming a new band: have your first song and your first album named after the band.

I'm also really drawn to the edgier guitar sound of "Pugni in Tasca." Any specific influences on that song?

Luc Simone: This is the last song I wrote for the record. The idea was to have a single in Italian and for it to be a bit more of a rocker than the other songs. This one was really inspired by Chubby and the Gang and how that band was amazing at combining elements from hard rock, power pop, Oi, and hardcore. It’s got that bad boy vibe and Thin Lizzy-style twin guitars.

I have to imagine you are a great live band. Is Lùlù touring in support of this release?

Luc Simone: I think we’re alright! We give it our all. Our live shows are much punkier than what you’d think from the record and as a front person without any instrument to play, I love it.

We toured the south of France and some parts of the Spanish Basque Country in June. We’ll have a couple more gigs in France in September before heading to Germany in October. Hopefully we’ll travel to Italy and Scandinavia next year. :)

If Lùlù could tour with any band from any era, who would you choose?

Luc Simone: Personally, I would go with Guided by Voices’ classic line-up, around the release of Under the Bushes, Under the Stars. I have a live bootleg from that era, and it’s just the most fun, boozed-out rocking experience you can think of. Stellar tunes played by a very tight band, except that they get drunker and sloppier as the concert goes on. I don’t drink, but I bet they were very fun to hang around at the time as well.

Any plans to tour America?

Luc Simone: If anyone’s down to have us, I’m down to come—send us an e-mail! Our album is about to get some distribution there, so I guess there’s always a chance.

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