Stereo Total

Though they're based in Berlin, the witty pop group Stereo Total draw bandmembers and musical influences from across Europe. Vocalist/guitarist/drummer Françoise Cactus is French and vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Brezel Göring is German, and the group has included members from Italy, Scotland, and Bohemia. Their 1995 debut album, Oh Ah! on Bungalow Records, introduced their kitchen-sink approach to pop music, which embraces punk, hip-hop, disco, '60s pop, and rock from France, the U.K., and the U.S., as well as electro and new wave elements. Further Bungalow releases like Monokini and Juke-Box Alarm followed; in 1998, they made their U.S. debut with their self-titled album on Bobsled Records. My Melody followed in 1999. Musique Automatique appeared on Bobsled in late 2001, but was reissued -- along with Oh Ah! and Monokini -- by Kill Rock Stars over the next two years. Stereo Total returned with their sixth full-length, Do the Bambi, in 2005. Kill Rock Stars' reissue campaign continued in 2006 with new editions of Juke-Box Alarm and My Melody, while Disko B released the Bambi remix album Discotheque. For 2007's full-length Paris-Berlin, Stereo Total returned to the rawer sound of their earlier work. The duo issued a Quebec-only release, Carte Postale de Montreal, and a Spanish-language best-of collection, No Controles, before the 2010 full-length Baby Ouh!, which featured guests including Khan and members of Cobra Killer and Hawnay Troof. The duo returned in 2011 with the soundtrack to Underwater Love, a "pink musical" by director Shinji Iamoka. The following year, Cactus Versus Brezel, which Stereo Total recorded in Los Angeles with producer Gus Seyffert, was released in Europe; a U.S. release was expected in 2013. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi