VELVET CONDOM was formed during 2005, in Strasbourg – France, by Alice D. (vocals, guitars, keyboards) and Oberst P. (programming, keyboards). They consider their music as sad pop tunes played by dead mannequins. As if Synth PoP would meet dark noisy guitars and teenage angst lyrics. On one side, the cold and safe synthetics of a condom and the glamorous elegance of velvet on the other. Their debut EP (8-tracks) was released in 2006, containing minimal electro-wave songs as "Kalter Lippenstift" and "Playgirlz". The band has played several shows in France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Rumania, Greece, ... and opened for bands like : Vive la Fete, Who made Who, Fehlfarben, Schwefelgelb, No More (Suicide Commando), A-Frames, Lesbians on Ecstasy, Fliehende Stürme, Jad Wio, Swann Danger, The Weegs, ... On stage, the band definitely shows its wilder and noisier side and would mainly use neon tubes and strobe lights to create a psychedelic robot-noise-pop performance. In the beginning of 2008 VC has moved to Berlin and released their second record "Safe & Elegant", distributed by the Dutch label Enfant Terrible, which got very positive feedback from the press and the audience. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This album is hopefully only the first of many more releases, as this is one of the best independent (electro) pop records recently released…AND they play some of the finest indie guitar pop / shoegazer stuff heard since a long time…. This album could well be hottest release for this summer. (Enfant-terrible.nl) “BEST UNSIGNED ELECTRO BAND” (Gothic Magazine) As you probably have guessed by now, VELVET CONDOM is not your typical 80s revival party electro band dressed up in flashy colours and I won’t complain about it since they managed to mix the danceable pop elements of the genre to darker experimental ones ingeniously on this first album. (Veglam.com) Die Melange aus unterkühltem Synth-Pop, feinsten Minimal-Elektronik-Anleihen und atmosphärischem Cold-Wave, ganz französischer Art verhalf dem Duo schnell zu Achtungserfolgen. Tracks wie „Poison and Maquillage“ und „Kalter Lippenstift“ sind seit geraumer Zeit regelmäßiger Bestandteil eines coolen Berlin-Wochenend-Stelldicheins. (Gothic Magazine) While most French electro bands just take the easy DAFT PUNK way turning into DJs who do nothing but play their own music on CDs at shows, you’ll still find some more underground minimalistic acts that have more in common with German robotic genre originators KRAFTWERK. (Veglam.com) Mit dabei VELVET CONDOM mit Pop aus der Cure-Ladytron Ecke. Highlight! (Komma.info) Dark, brooding Electronica reminiscent of early New Wave such as The Cure, Bauhaus, Joy Division/New Order…(ReadtheFanzine.co.uk) This amazing duo from Strasbourg creates an unique aesthetic of cold synth wave with elements of rough, but melodic post punk and shoegaze. (Remembrance-daze.com) Velvet condom enfin, qui aime les synthétiseurs glacés des années 80, et aime le noir.(DNA) La musique du duo plonge dans les heures les plus sombres des années 80 : boites à rythmes martiales, synthés acides, guitares saturées de réverb… un univers plombé de basse et de de talk-overs suicidaires que Nicolas et Olivier gardent, tels de maléfiques gardiens du temple. (DNA) Le monde de Velvet Condom est fait de zones industrielles désaffectées puis réinvesties par les artistes. (Popingays.com) Avec sa pochette en hommage à Kraftwerk l’album revendique son côté sexy et provoc’. (Poly) ||||||||||||||>>www.myspace.com/velvetcondom<<||||||||||||