Monade

Monade started out as a solo project from Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, who quickly added backing musicians and turned her little bedroom venture into a proper group. Anybody who has ever heard Stereolab will quickly notice the resemblance between the two bands, including Sadier's almost blank-eyed "bap-ba-bap-ba" vocal style and her interest in mid-1960s pop styles. But there are marked differences between the two groups, as well. Monade sport a more traditional guitar-and-drum sound; Sadier's vocals are clearer and placed front and center; and the tunes, while still somewhat evasive, have a more traditional structure. Sadier also uses Monade to show that she's taken a trombone lesson or two.