Duchess Says

Montreal’s Duchess Says wrapped up their U.S. tour in NYC with two very fun, very different, shows. As I’ve said, singer Annie-Claude Deschenes doesn’t really allow for passive viewing, and Friday night’s show at Shea Stadium (10/14) was a crowd that was ready to go bonkers. She rode on one fan’s shoulders, draped white plastic tarps over the crowd and sung underneath, got folks to take the stage while she sang from the floor and generally whipped things into a frenzy, as the band cranked out some killer synthpunk. (While Annie-Claude is clearly the focal point, Duchess Says are a pretty killer band and new album Sciences Nouvelles is their best yet.) Shea was an all-around great lineup, with tourmates Future Punx, Operator Music Band and Peeling on the bill as well. Pictures from the whole night are in the gallery above.

Then Saturday night (10/15), Duchess Says played Elvis Guesthouse, a tiny space where Annie Claude and her keyboards were in the “blue” room and the band played on the dancefloor. Mind you, she didn’t stay in there for long. There were quite a few random people there who didn’t seem to realize there was going to be live music, let alone this, who comically got pulled into the fray. A couple instagrams from Elvis Guesthouse (and a few videos from Shea) are below. - Brooklyn Vegan

Lately, we've been blessed to hear the best parts of '80s music—hello, Stranger Things soundtrack? So it's nice to hear that revival popping up, purely, in brand new music. Hyped up keys and defiant drums perfectly capture the essence of the '80s on Montreal (by way of Quebec City) band Duchess Says' new single "I Repeat Myself." The eclectic francophone band return this fall with their new record, Science Nouvelles, out on Oct. 14 via Slovenly/Bonsound. It's their first in almost five years. Lead singer Annie-Claude Deschene's powerful vocals are reminiscent of synth punk queen, Siouxsie Sioux. The band says this new song is inspired by a particularly mesmerizing scene in the 1985 classic Fright Night. Though they classifies their genre as moog rock, there is still a very present hectic punk vibe woven through the glittery keyboard chaos on "I Repeat Myself." Based on the sound of this single, the band says we can expect "that all songs on the album had been verified, refuted, and validated to ensure that they don’t repeat themselves." Duchess Says live performances are elaborate and exuberant. But, mysterious as ever, the band says we can expect of their fall tour of this record to feature some "new visuals, synchronized video backdrops, a new band member, and scientific rituals with religious pie charts." Whatever those pie charts are, they sound pretty neat.

Listen to the track below and see where you can catch them on tour this fall. - Noisey

French-Canadian dance-punk four-piece Duchess Says are set to drop their album Sciences Nouvelles at the end of the week. We’ve already heard the synth-drenched, urgent “I Repeat Myself” and the menacing, deep-burrowing “Negative Thoughts.” Today, the whole sharp, shifting thing is available to stream via Brooklyn Vegan. Listen to the versatile outfit weave in and out of decades and aesthetics while still sounding refreshingly inventive below. - Stereogum