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.