PureVolume

The tale of New York electro-rock outfit Heloise & the Savoir Faire reads like an especially juicy gossip item, involving luminaries from the worlds of fine art, film, television, underground music and even music veterans. This all makes perfect sense once you've become acquainted with the charismatic pop polymath that is lead-singer Heloise Williams.

And who wouldn't want to become familiar with them after hearing the band's jubilant debut, Trash, Rats And Microphones? The album was self-produced and engineered by Andrew Schneider at Translator Studio in Brooklyn, New York; and the result became these twelve originals that marry New Wave rock, disco rhythms, and effervescent synth-pop to Heloise's succinct, idiosyncratic lyrical style. On the underground hit, "Odyle," she lampoons New Age aphorisms, while "On Fuego" paints a vivid picture of a fiesta out of bounds, equal parts wet T-shirt contest and Mexican hat dance. The giddy opener "Illusions" mixes funky bass, bongos and a pumping beat to push the excitement meter into the red. Heloise even flips effortlessly from erotic whisper to full-throttle wail, then back again against the mechanized handclaps and squelching low-end of a Datsun 280Z. Deborah Harry of Blondie fame drops by to join the fun on "Canadian Changs" and the lean and sinewy "Downtown."

New York, London, Los Angeles... Heloise & the Savoir Faire continue making new friends and fans wherever they go. Why? Because the songs of Trash, Rats And Microphones, and the band's shows, are tailored to electrify a wide variety of patrons.

Heloise & the Savoir Faire look like a million bucks, and have boundless fun on stage. "But not we're super-super cool or pretentious jerks." The ice queen drill team routine on "Members Only," or the raunchy office politics of "Givin' U the Bizness"? Those are just poses. Don't take them too seriously.

"I'm writing with a sense of, 'Let's have a good time,'" concludes Heloise. "We're poking fun at everyone, and everyone can point fun at us. Everyone is in on the joke."