“I don’t know much about Johnny. I know he’s one of us. I guess he must be a fun guy, yet somehow tormented and sweet. One thing I know for sure: I dig his music. 80’s pop and Lookout! Records punk rock with lyrics in French… I have always had some of his tracks in my playlists. I can’t speak French but I feel all of it.”
– Andrea Manges
“Johnny is definitely from Mars. But so young at heart. Too bad his heart is always broken.”
– Eliza Van Dooren
“The goal is not to fit in. If anything, it’s to amplify the differences. As soon as a convention is established, the most interesting work would likely be the one that doesn’t follow it.”
– Rick Rubin
“Bagatelles: Possibly the greatest album from LVEAM… Definitely one that you’ll want to blast for summer of 24! A unique take on pop punk music. Sweet French synth-pop hits that fans of The Queers, Ramones and Helen Love would eat right up.”
Pop Punk Underground
“Bagatelles: A pure bubblepunk gem… An intense spell of romantic summerlike magic is taking place here. A completely different take on pop-punk. Totally unconventional, but totally magical.”
RamonescoreClub.com
“LVEAM, one-man band punk dirigé par l’élusif Johnny, lancait plus tot cette semaine son 20e (!) album bagatelles. Avec autant de musique, les princesses n’auront jamais froid.”
Dominic Tardif
“If you didn’t know LVEAM before, you’re in for a treat! “Bagatelles” is the sweetest of the sweetest. Crazy French pop in pure DIY spirit.”
Striped Music
“Meilleur band du Québec toutes catégories confondues.”
Sweetheart Sebastian
“Pretty good version of Teenage Gluesniffer. And one of the members has a beard! Bonus!”
Ben Weasel
“LVEAM: Raison sociale sous laquelle le pape du punk sucré imagine depuis 1995 ce que les Ramones seraient devenus s’ils avaient coiffé leurs rythmes frénétiques d’un barrage de claviers à la gomme et de mélodies ingénues dignes de comptines pour enfants. Défoulatoire ode à la marginalité.”
VOIR
“Le volume etait au maximum is a standout.”
Joe Queer
“Parfait pour l’été. C’est bon, ça donne le goût de danser, ça fait sourire et ça «rocke». Qu’est-ce que vous voulez de plus?”
Clin d’oeil
“Brilliant 3 chord tunes. A sound creation you won´t find anywhere else in the pop-punk scene. The sound is above average and some technical baubles are like the icing on a pop-punk cake. A must have for every Travoltas, Ramones and Plastic Bertrand fans.”
Banzai! (Germany)
“Johnny atteint un sommet dans cet art d’un univers pop-punk parfait. L’horloge biologique coincée aux pourtours d’une adolescence idyllique qui n’est pas sans rappeler la plage et le soleil.”
Ramon vitesse
“Outstanding. Very high expectations from the opening, then immediate ascension to total ecstasy after only four songs. The work of Johnny raises the bubblegum pop sweetness to the highest point with superb universal melodies. L<3AM’s greatest masterpiece.”
Hyper Enough
“Je pense pas avoir jamais rien entendu de tel au Québec. Quand on parle de pop bonbon, celle là est équivalente à toute la récolte d’halloween du kid le mieux déguisé du quartier. Le Volume n’a pas changé. La même chose, mais en mieux, en parfait en fait. “
33mag
“A total smash. Every pop-punk guy should get this stuff.”
OX Fanzine (Germany)
“Toujours aussi jouissif dans sa démesure”
ICI
“Be warned: This music is highly addicitve.”
CBC Radio
“Album punk local de l’année!”
Voir
“Wow, that’s a brilliant song!!!!! Sounds fantastic”
Helen Love
“Si jamais les Ramones, Screeching Weasel et The Queers apres une folle nuit d’amour au pluriel avaient eu un enfant, il se serait appelé le volume était au maximum. Comme si les 33T des Beach Boys defilaient en vitesse 45T. Irresistible.”
Punk Rawk (France)
“Yet another unsung musical hero of our time. High grade power pop at it’s best.
UNDERCOVER FM
“Chaque chanson est un petit bijou digne digne du travail des Beach Boys à leur meilleure époque. Notre Brian Wilson Québécois”
Montréal Campus
” Very hip, very creative artistically, and catchier than a plague. Like some sort of bastard child of The Ramones and Andy Warhol, with a good dose of The Cars.”
NXNE
“Entraînant, mordant et punk! LVEAM, c’est une esthétique précise, à la fois très lustrée et viscérale, et Johnny l’assume avec la même passion et la même minutie. La même efficacité, aussi.”
BANDE À PART
“The most brilliant pop-punk band on the planet! Johnny enters virgin territory with this very special sound while he´s shooting out one 3-chord hit after another. Incredible! “
BANZAI! (Germany)
“À la fois angélique et proche du Wall Of Sound de Phil Spector. Un autre mur sonique chargé de mélodies et d’harmonies”
VOIR
“LVEAM has made a sound here that is completely their own. It is a very unique take on the power-pop/pop-punk genre. There isn’t really a band that is coming close to this sound right now. Think of the most upbeat music you can, and times that by twenty. Le Volume’ redefines the word fun.”
PUNK OR NOTHING (USA)
“Imaginez Brian Wilson qui conduit un orchestre virtuel… Je pari ce cheval dans la course au prochain poulain montréalais à conquérir le monde. “
BANDE A PART
“Ultra sugary power pop from Quebec. LVEAM definitely plays their pop from the really big end of the spectrum. All the big synthesizers, layered vocals, and giant-sounding guitars and drums are what I imagine the French-Canadian Brian Wilson would have sounded like had he hung with the Ramones and Ric Ocasek.
RAZORCAKE (USA)
“Ils sont cutes. Avec leur musique sans prétention cute, leurs paroles attendrissantes cutes et leurs chansons qui parlent de princesses, ils font sourire à tout coup. De la musique plus-que-feel-good à saveur de vacances qu’on devrait écouter toute l’année, le volume au maximum.”
Nightlife Magazine
“Best canadian pop punk band. Ultra sweet pop music with ultimate harmonies and splendid vocals.”
Diskunion (Japan)
“Beaucoup trop irritant pour nos auditeurs.”
Guy Brouillard, CKOI FM
“The Power Pop Gods are shining a light down on us. More than enough instruments to satisfy the Phil Spector in all of us. All executed with precision and brilliance. Fans of the TRAVOLTAS and the PET SHOP BOYS wil be happy with any of the Le Volume records. “
The Rude Review
“GREAT catchy pop in the Travoltas and Ramones vein. Where are the other four LP’s for our pop punk listening pleasure?”
Maximum Rocknroll (USA)
“The Jeff Lynne of synth power-pop. Massive influence.”
The Scutches
“What we have here is a winner.”
Donald K. Tarlton, DKD
“Colorful sugar-coated bubblegum pop. Ultra-good. The songwriting and arrangement sense of Johnny is truly beautiful. A killer masterpiece album!”
Hyper-Enough (Japan)
“I really like how this band does big huge sounding power pop in the best Brian Wilson tradition, but you know French-Canadianified.”
Razorcake
“When searching for Canada’s greatest DIY activists, LVEAM-bandleader Johnny is expected to appear on top of the list. Those who know LVEAM know that the music always hit like a big pop chartbuster attack. A totally incomparable and unmatched sound that you’ll probably either love or hate. Hats off!”
OX (Germany)
“Yes, I could have told you that these guys hung out with Plastic Bertrand and Elton Motello and you probably would have believed me.”
Obscure Classics (USA)
★★★★★★★★★★
Une voix gomme-balloune extrêmement juvenile. Un mode d’expression totalement immature. Un champ sémantique quasi-inexistant. Le tout sur fond de ritournelles enfantines ANTI-TOUT et anti-goût-du-jour, glacée de sonorités hors-tendances never-was sucrées à en faire carier les dents. Ouep, exactement la même estifie de recette depuis 28 ans! La formule même de l’échec quoi… Et estifie que j’aime ca comme ca! Personne ne peut se douter à quel point j’ai un plaisir fou et indescriptible à faire ca… Et surtout à le faire comme ca, sans aucuns fucking compromis! Aucuns. Fucking. Compromis.
Ouep, les mêmes accords depuis le début de l’histoire. Les mêmes accords que Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Un cul-de-sac musical en 4 couleurs fluos dans lequel on se mets à genoux devant la vie pour la remercier d’y être emprisonné à perpétuité sans aucune chance de libération conditionnelle. Un moment de gratitude à poings fermés pour celebrer la marginalité et la différence. Une microscopique tête d’épingle de fantaisie ensevelie sous l’infecte poubelle culturelle Québécoise subventionnée.
Hello dear friend,
My name is Johnny, and I think I love you. Oh, it’s no surprise, I have been quite obsessed with the search for love, truth, and beauty for my entire life. But mostly, I have been sharply and sickly over-obsessed with this totally-unimportant-thing called music. No matter how hard I try, and God knows I have tried, I just can’t shut it off. It is simply the way I am wired. (And trust me, I’m usually quite good at reprogramming things….) There seems to be some musical receptors inside me that are not present in most other sentient beings. And I just cannot turn them off.
I don’t really speak English, (I’m not very good at French either) but I am making an extra effort here because although I still live in a small awful town in French Canada (The only way I found to live half-comfortably for almost nothing so I can fully devote myself to very few and very specific interests, slash NE TRAVAILLEZ JAMAIS!), it seems like most of the people who appreciate LVEAM’s not-so-pop music are English-speaking kids from either Japan, Italy or the US. (Hi there, freaks and punks and clowns and jugglers from all around the globe!)
The truth is that I am nothing. Just yet another lost soul who is contemplating one tiny aspect of God through the play of the ears attached to this amazing, divine aggregate called a human body. Oh, there are a million things I could say about this body, like it is fruitarian, skier, anarchist, utopist and terribly slowly on its way to holiness. But really, anything besides the music is of absolutely no interest and no value.
Music is nothing but a way for God to express itself in the manifest world. A way for Him to play and kill some time. And for us, it’s a very unique way to contemplate him through the phenomenon of sound waves and share his love. Yep, very special thanks to God for its way of playing through me, because it amuses me so much! Oh, how my life would be so freaking miserable had he decided to express himself in me through jazz, hip-hop or sculpture instead.
I am a useless nobody. I’m worthless. I’m a non-artist. I can’t really play, I can’t really sing. But I’m having so much fun doing it!
This is what LVEAM is all about. A way for kids living on the margins to celebrate art, love, truth and beauty in its most basic form. And that’s it.
MUSIC NO ONE LISTENS TO.
Peace, Love and Anarchy,
Johnny Vauriennes & les Échaloteens
(Marie-Claude, Eliza, Veronika, Manon, Stephanie, Audrey, Violette, Greta & Kim-Love)
