Poni Hoax

Poni Hoax stand apart in French electronica, which has held its cachet since Air emerged in the mid-'90s, by merging the refinement of Gallic dance rhythms with an unapologetic rock & roll stance—evoking the Strokes if they genuinely matched their own image of cool detachment—while adding a trace of the lyrical mischief and polished elegance that defined French pop at Serge Gainsbourg’s creative peak. The quartet first connected as students at the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique in Paris; after graduation, keyboardist Laurent Bardainne, guitarist Nicolas Villebrin, bassist Arnaud Roulin, and drummer Vincent Taeger kept up their exploratory sessions independently even as they took on work as session and touring players. An encounter in a neighborhood bar between Bardainne and the stylish Franco-Cambodian singer Nicolas Ker supplied the group with a magnetic frontman whose persona echoed the camp-cool glamour of early Bryan Ferry. Support from the well-known dance producer and remixer Jakim Bouaziz then secured their place on the influential electronic indie label Tigersushi Records. The band’s first EP, Budapest, appeared in autumn 2005. Their self-titled debut album, whose cover featured a deliberately artificial decadent image of a nude young girl studying a live owl, followed in summer 2006; a remix EP arrived the subsequent year. In 2008 they issued their second album, Images of Sigrid, through Tigersushi France.