Fancy

Emerging from the Montreuil suburbs of Paris, Fancy fuses every exuberant and infectious element of rock from the 1950s forward into a shimmering package. Their sound draws on disco, funk, hair metal, and rockabilly while naming Elvis Presley, Mozart, and David Lee Roth among their influences, yet the group above all sustains the flamboyant spirit of 1970s glam rock. The lineup features androgynous, Afro'd vocalist Jesse Chaton alongside guitarist Mom, whose real name is Mohamed Yamani, and bassist Rae Mone, born Ramon Pavez; the three first forged their outrageous visual and sonic identity in the late 1990s when Chaton and Rae Mone met at school and began performing together. Mom joined in 2002, at which point the band took the name Fancy. High-energy opening slots for Peaches and TV on the Radio, plus a slot at the 2003 Transmusicales Festival in Rennes, quickly generated attention. Also in 2003 the group issued its first recording, the Sweet- and Slade-inspired single “Seventeen,” which landed on a compilation assembled by the storied French rock magazine Les Inrockuptibles. Although their striking image fueled word-of-mouth interest, that same audacity deterred many risk-averse record companies. The trio persisted, placing tracks on samplers from Vice Records and Ed Banger before issuing the singles “Seventeen” and “What’s Your Name Again?” in 2006. That summer Fancy appeared at the Eurockéennes Festival on a bill that included Daft Punk; the French dance duo and their manager Pedro were impressed enough to invite Fancy to share several dates. The band then joined the roster of the adventurous French imprint Exclaim and delivered its debut album, Kings of the World, in 2007. Chaton contributed to the writing of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.,” one of the year’s major hits. In 2008 Fancy accompanied Justice on a MySpace-sponsored trek through the United Kingdom and the United States.