Despite a name that belongs in the City of Lights, Eux Autres (it's pronounced ooz-oh-tra, by the way) hang their berets in Portland, where the brother and sister duo of Nicholas and Heather Larimer flaunt their Francophile interests via gorgeous bouncy pop songs. The pair migrated from Omaha a few years back and have been churning out adorable songs ever since, the finest of which are on the brand-new Cold City, an absolutely charming album of high-energy, jangly pop gems accentuated by the gorgeous female vocals of the fairer Larimer. The siblings took a moment to talk about their love for Christmas songs and old timey baseball players.

Cold City is such an energetic and upbeat record, do you feel that as a live band you always have to match the tempo of the record itself?

HEATHER: Yes, it's a constant concern in our band—how to create an impactful performance. There are only two of us, and we're far from virtuosos on our instruments. Our goal is to deliver some good, simple pop songs, until Nick perfects his fire-breathing act.

NICHOLAS: We've added a keyboard player for this next batch of shows and we're really excited. He's from Nebraska, too. Our moms are business partners (they share a psychotherapy practice), so it's likely we're all equally fucked up emotionally, but at least we have an extensive lexicon with which to discuss those fucked-up feelings.

Given the release of last year's Another Christmas at Home, and the fact that you have your own band-approved Christmas stocking, it would seem that you are not shy about your love for holiday songs. Do you have a favorite Christmas song?

HEATHER: We are crazy for Christmas songs. I hate when people slag Christmas music, it's like hating puppies. But our Christmas song, like many of our songs, is a bit twisted—it's about choosing booze over "togetherness." My favorite Christmas song is probably "It's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." I love how plaintive the vocals are.

NICHOLAS: I thought it was about choosing booze and togetherness. My current Christmas faves are probably "Teenage Christmas" by Nikki Sudden, "Father Christmas" by the Kinks, and "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade.

Indie bands aren't supposed to like, or know anything about, sports, so if that is the case, what is "The Deadball Era" about?

NICHOLAS: It's completely about sports! It's mostly about Ty Cobb, but there are some other things going on there, too. We actually have quite a few songs about sports.

Since your bio mentions that your "practices frequently devolve into shoving matches," then I have to ask, who wins?

NICHOLAS: It usually results in Heather yelling, "Fine, you win!" Which really means Heather wins by taking the moral high ground. She's very tricky like that.

Eux Autres perform at Slabtown on Sunday, December 9.