1MM: Yelle @ Knitting Factory, 2.19.08

Words/Photos by Andrew Parks

So Yelle‘s apparently a major pop star back home in Paris, a fact backed by the considerable Frenchie quotient at New York’s Knitting Factory Tuesday night. Billed as the singer’s U.S. debut, the show was exactly what one would expect given the feel-good electro vibe of Yelle’s import-only debut, Pop Up. (Caroline’s reissuing it with a bonus Tepr remix of “À Cause des Garçons” on April 1.) Which is a whole lotta windmilling, prancing and preening with live drums, keys and nary a backing track in sight except for the bubbly loops emanating from GrandMarnier‘s laptop. All and all, the kids lapped it up–pogoing and pseudo-slam-dancing to every song. And I do mean kids, as the crowd seemed five-feet-tall and barely legal on average. Yes this is kinda disturbing considering Yelle has a song called “Je Veux Te Voi,” a.k.a. “Short Dick Cuiziner,” a diss track aimed straight at a member of TTC.Me, I can’t help thinking America just got its next Annie–meaning another potential pop star prepackaged for hipsters, right down to Kitsuné’s blessing.