Following the swanky cool of the E.P Istanbul is Sleepy by a few months, the new album from French veterans of 60s garage beat and psychedelia, The Limiñanas, peddles a similar groove-enriched strain of psych-rock that sounds contemporary, while cribbing the best of their influences.
Musical couch-surfer, Anton Newcombe has been collaborating with the band in recent times. This has had the effect of synthesising the relative strengths of each of the artists. A coterie of friends indeed. Also, since Malamore, The Limiñanas have shifted a little more into the trance aspects of psych-pop, whilst sheltering behind vocals inspired by the detached cool of Serge Gainsbourg, the great French master of pop erotica. The voice on tracks such as ‘Dimanche’ has a rhythmic drive and poetic meter. It doesn’t even matter what the [mostly] French lyrics reveal because the voice, as an instrument, caresses the mood so effortlessly. It matters not from where the breeze emanates. The guitars layer the sound with looping melodica and percussion, a gently assuaging sound that manages to incorporate the sound of police sirens on ‘De La Part Des Copains’, as if this is no longer an intrusion but shares a comforting affinity with urban life. The mood is nonchalant, a kind of ambulatory effervescence that doesn’t share the darkness of much of the psychedelic oeuvre.
The ‘Ouverture’ sets the pace, a kind of Mozartian scene setting for much of what is to follow, themes that will recur – guitars, sitars, tambourines, distant broadcasts – a panoply of 60s garage sound updated with great enthusiasm for the easy swagger. ‘Le Premier Jour’ is sexy as hell, and surely is the godchild of later era Serge. Whatever the fuck it translates to, the vocals are the sensorial equivalent of a tropical massage. Beautiful stuff. ‘Istanbul is Sleepy’ males a re-appearance from the EP of 2017, and why not, it’s psych-pop masterwork.
‘Shadow People’ is predominantly the female vocal of Guest, Emmanuelle Seigner which is a simple tune executed beyond its station. Deceptively engaging. ‘Trios Bancs’ is quite possibly the most accomplished track, setting a trance much like Moon Duo without the vortex of freaky guitar. Here the Interplay between the Limiñanas is so hot, it’s little wonder the album cover is drenched in sunburnt orange.
Rob Taylor / Soundblab
French pop in its purest form hasn't really got its groove back since the 60s, but, wisely, it's this very era that this Perpignan duo mine, marrying fuzzed-out psychedelia and agreeably rambling rock with the pop sweetness of that decade's chansons. The ghost of Gainsbourg is felt most keenly in Votre côté yéyé m'emmerde, a softly spoken-word litany of icons and celebrities. Not hero worship, though, but an eye roll at the cute-ification of the past; its title translates to something like "your yé-yé view annoys me", or, more literally, "enshittens me". It is, in other words, a perfectly Gallic "bof" of a pop song.
Hermione Hoby / The Guardian
Crystal Anis is the latest LP from the French underground band The Limiñanas. This hook laden dreamy fuzz felt pop owes a big nod to the Velvet Underground which Lio and Marie Limiñana make no secret of. Lush garage rock and folk-pop with plenty of tambourine, jangly guitars and hooks to keep you off your chair, you can’t go wrong.
The music has a simplicity that works on many levels, from looping ukulele openings (AF3458) to the great Velvet Underground sounding tribute on Kinam Baby. Sultry female vocals call to mind the likes of Mazzy Starr and Nico which really go to work on the breathy Hospital Boogie. Male vocals also feature on the likes of Bad Lady Goes to Jail whose combined tambourine percussion calling to mind the early Stones whilst the title track shines with fuzzy guitars and organ and Serge Gainsbourg inspired male / female spoken parts.
This has got to be one of the most overlooked albums of 2012, it’s brilliantly constructed and executed…scatter the cushions on the floor and get the liquid light show ready.
Alex Gallacher / Folk Radio
Style: Bossa Nova, Fusion, MPB, Latin Jazz 
