I Am Stramgram - Tentacles

His stage name is a Franglais pun. This simple thing means a lot. The album name is English, but almost French, except a U. (Well, just like 'vehicle'.)

While just  reading his biog, I thought I would like him. Listening to the album largely confirmed it.
With the two first pieces, excellent and very different from one another, you quickly enter into a good Radiohead atmosphere (respectively glancing at "Climbing up the Walls" and "Idioteque"). As long as it’s only inspiration and no plagiarism, it suits me perfectly.
You calm things and rhythm down with the 3rd one, "Serra's Snake", but not the interest because – besides Le Prince Miiaou’s backing vocals – the mix of French (verses) and English (chorus) brings a curiosity and corroborates his personality. You have to see his rustic videos as well, and the graphics inside his website (see below section “It’s him”). His animated GIFs obviously delight me.

Then it’s much more diluted. Hidden under slow hazes made from keyboards, violin, brass, or under pervasive backing vocals ("Camilla", "Saut de Ligne"), he yet keeps all his sense of the melody. Small hello here to Cascadeur or Sage, even Damon Albarn maybe.

Appeal – and rock, with big strokes of crunchy saturated guitars – come back with "Eaten Alive"... despite this irritating electro looped sound sullying all the second half of the piece. Yet a powerful track easily gaining support.

Vincent Jouffroy’s universal message is generally expressed in English – with a French accent (which will easily be corrected) – but his mother tongue reappears here and there, for a line or two, like a surprise ("Saut de Ligne"). Prick up your ears. Question the meaning and the senses. May there be some philosophy in all this?
The guy from Bordeaux multiplies arts references: John Fante, Steve Tesich, Richard Serra... at the risk of becoming a bit abstruse sometimes.

Bass, guitars, drums, keyboards, he plays everything, but also calls on more specialist friends, when needed. On the whole, the guitar is mainly acoustic. The voice is clean, rather high, on a music regularly 'soiled' by some grain (like in the very slow "Empty House"). An alliance giving realism, and defining a style. At this point I remember the German Norman Palm, another endearing solo folk tinkerer whose stage name, even when you search a lot, is no Franglais pun at all.