Tahiti 80 - Puzzle (minty fresh)

They're French. Their album cover artwork bespeaks '70s retro. Sound familiar? If you're hoping for the French duo Air, most recently known for their soundtrack to the melancholy affair The Virgin Suicides, you will most likely be disappointed.

Instead, Tahiti 80 is a band that feels no shame in crafting super-sugary indiepop songs. In fact, you can almost feel the glee and delight they must have had in creating Puzzle.

The band formed in 1993 when vocalist Xavier Boyer and bassist Pedro Resende met at the University of Rouen. The two shared a love of music, especially '60s British pop acts like the Beatles and the Kinks, as well as modern indiepop bands like Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and the Cardigans. Boyer and Resende began writing songs. Guitarist Mederic Gontier joined the pair in 1994, and drummer Sylvain Merchand followed a year later. Unfortunately, in their quest to emulate their musical heroes, Tahiti 80 are only mildly successful.

On Puzzle, Tahiti 80 offer a collective update of their influences, with a touch of '70s synthesizers and modern house beats. Thanks to excellent production by Andy Chase, Puzzle sounds very lush. In fact, the record feels quite a bit like Air's excellent 1998 album, Moon Safari. However, Puzzle's songs just don't live up to their production.

Puzzle's tracks are just too sweet and Boyer's soft voice doesn't help things. The lyrics sound unbelievably contrived, with lines like "We'll never be younger than today / Tommorow's yesterday, it's never too late" on the song "I.S.A.A.C." to "When I look into your eyes / I see a yellow butterfly / Flying high in a beautiful / Summer sky" on "Yellow Butterfly." Maybe they sound better in French.

Tahiti 80 are at their best in the middle of the record on songs like "Mr. Davies," "Swimming Suit" and "Hey Joe," where the music is nice and the lyrics are tolerable. Otherwise, the rest of the record is like a sugary breakfast cereal: Too sweet for most people's taste.

-By John Royall