Je Suis France

One of numerous groups lingering at the periphery of Athens’ indie rock community, the whimsical jokers in Je Suis France merge a fondness for garage rock and jagged, expansive instrumentals reminiscent of Built to Spill’s earliest work with the freewheeling spirit of Camper Van Beethoven—an approach fittingly reflected by the release of their debut on David Lowery’s Pitch-a-Tent imprint. Although the group’s adopted identities, including the monikers Darkness and Iceberg, along with their musings on Eastern bloc politics and the cryptic notes and imagery that accompany their records, might suggest extreme art-rock indulgence, they remain at heart a grounded indie rock outfit.

The project took shape in a Marietta, GA, high school among core figures DJ and Darkness; its roster took final shape once the musicians converged at the University of Athens and began shifts at the campus radio station. Adding Chris Rogers on guitar and Iceberg on bass, the ensemble cycled through numerous monikers and instrumental configurations until they swapped Masters of the Hemisphere’s Sean Rawls for bandmate Jeff Griggs on drums, locking in the definitive lineup. As word spread through the bustling Athens circuit—bolstered by their inventive songcraft and sporadic renditions of tracks sung in phonetically reversed lyrics—they placed their self-titled debut with a label in 2000, earning strong notices for its blend of winding instrumentals and scrappy anthems. The equally striking Ice Age appeared in 2002.