They were founded in 1990 by songwriters Tim Gane (guitar, keyboards), formerly of the band McCarthy, and Laetitia Sadier (sometimes credited as Seaya Sadier; vocals, keyboards, trombone, guitar), who is from France and sings in both English and French.
Over the years, Gane and Sadier have enlisted a large number of other musicians to accompany them on stage and on record. The initial line-up featured Martin Kean, formerly of The Chills, on bass, and Joe Dilworth (from their Too Pure label-mates Th’ Faith Healers) on drums, with Russell Yates (of Moose) and Mick Conroy (ex-Modern English) also appearing at early live shows. In 1993 they recruited Andy Ramsay (drums), who has remained in the group line-up ever since, and Mary Hansen (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion). Hansen’s distinctive backing vocals became an important aspect of the Stereolab sound, and she remained a regular feature of the line-up until her death in a cycling accident on December 9, 2002. Multi-instrumentalist Sean O’Hagan of The High Llamas has also been a frequent contributor, particularly with string, brass and keyboard arrangements to the band’s studio albums. John McEntire (Tortoise) has also contributed keyboard, electronic effects and studio help over the years. Other members have come and (in some cases) gone over the years, including Duncan Brown, Dave Pajo (from Tortoise), Richard Harrison and Simon Johns (all bass); Gina Morris (vocals); and Katharine Gifford and Morgane Lhote (both on keyboards).
Early Stereolab material displayed a heavy influence of krautrock sounds, particularly Neu! and Faust, characteristically relying on droning, repetitive guitar or keyboard riffs, with or without vocals. Early heavy use of distorted Farfisa combo-organ sounds were also reminiscent of early recordings by The Modern Lovers. As the band developed, they incorporated new instrumentation, and an increasingly complex sense of rhythm and structure, frequently making use of irregular time signatures as well as unorthodox chord progressions and melodic intervals. The band has often made copious use of female backing vocal lines.
Lyrically, Stereolab’s music is quirky (song titles evoke memories of 1950s science fiction stories, and are often borrowed directly from old films and records of the period, but have nothing to do with the song’s content), but highly politically and philosophically charged, sometimes with a decidedly Surrealist or Situationist bent. (Sadier notes the libertarian Marxist theoretician Cornelius Castoriadis as a particular inspiration.) Sadier’s lyrics, in both French and English, often read like highly condensed sociological texts, standing in deliberate and distinct counterpoint to the lush hedonic pop sound of the band. A prime example would be “Ping Pong” from Mars Audiac Quintet, which is an explicit restating of Marxist theory concerning the relationship between economic cycles and war cycles.
Stereolab earned a minor place in the Britpop movement, with their sound proving influential to bands like Blur: occasional keyboard-driven b-sides and singer Damon Albarn’s love of retro keyboards showed the influence, and in recognition Laetitia Sadier was invited to provide vocals on “To The End” from Parklife.
Despite the band’s fan base and critical acclaim, Stereolab has not achieved high levels of financial or popular success. On June 7, 2004, suits at the Warner Music label (to whom the band was signed in the U.S.) announced they were dropping Stereolab in response to the poor sales (40,000 to that date) of Margerine Eclipse. This was part of an ongoing effort by Warner to cut costs; The Breeders and Third Eye Blind were also dropped from the label for this reason. Laetitia Sadier is now also a member of Monade, which is essentially expressive of her own singular musical goals.
L'enfer Des Forms
Stereolab Lyrics
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Que des filles un peu naïves,
On se laisse faire,
Par la tête du pays,
On s'en va comme des poltrons,
Vivant mal leur écartèlement,
Entre émotion et indifférence,
On a le désir, on se dit il faut agir,
Mais cette lâcheté inavouable,
Nous rend bien trop gouvernables,
On s'en va comme des poltrons,
Vivant mal leur écartèlement,
Entre émotion et indifférence,
Entre révolte et dérision,
On s'en va
Hell of forms
In the same manner,
As girls a bit naive,
We are manipulated,
By the head of the country,
We're behaving like cowards,
I'll at ease because of the separation,
Between emotion and indifference,
Between revolt and derision,
We feel the desire, we tell ourselves we must react,
But this shameful cowardness,
Makes us too easy to be controlled,
We're behaving like cowards,
Ill at ease because of the separation,
Between emotion and indifference,
Between revolt and derision.
We're going away
like cowards from the hell of forms.
The lyrics of Stereolab's "Enfer Des Formes Le" (which translates to "Hell of Forms") touch on the concept of societal and political manipulation. The song suggests that people are easily influenced, whether it be by the government or the media, and as a result, they become passive and cowardly. The song's opening lines compare people to "girls a bit naive," implying that they are easily manipulated and controlled. The lyrics go on to suggest that despite the desire to act, people are ultimately held back by their own cowardice and fear of taking a stand.
The song's title, "Enfer Des Formes Le," is a pun on the French phrase "enfer des femmes," which means "hell of women." However, instead of women, the song speaks to the hell that comes from being trapped by societal norms and expectations. The lyrics suggest that people are living in a world filled with "forms" - rules and structures that are difficult to fight against.
In addition to its poignant message, "Enfer Des Formes Le" is also notable for its unique blend of musical styles. The song features a combination of electronic and analogue instruments, including vintage organs, analog synthesizers, and drum machines. This gives the song a distinctive, retro-futuristic sound that is reminiscent of both the 1960s and the 1990s.
Line by Line Meaning
De la même manière,
In the same manner,
Que des filles un peu naïves,
As girls a bit naive,
On se laisse faire,
We are manipulated,
Par la tête du pays,
By the head of the country,
On s'en va comme des poltrons,
We're behaving like cowards,
Vivant mal leur écartèlement,
I'll at ease because of the separation,
Entre émotion et indifférence,
Between emotion and indifference,
Entre révolte et dérision,
Between revolt and derision,
On a le désir, on se dit il faut agir,
We feel the desire, we tell ourselves we must react,
Mais cette lâcheté inavouable,
But this shameful cowardness,
Nous rend bien trop gouvernables,
Makes us too easy to be controlled,
On s'en va comme des poltrons,
We're behaving like cowards,
Vivant mal leur écartèlement,
Ill at ease because of the separation,
Entre émotion et indifférence,
Between emotion and indifference,
Entre révolte et dérision.
Between revolt and derision.
On s'en va
We're going away
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind