Every Friday, THEPOPFIX hand scoops the hottest dudes and flyest chicks of the moment. From far and wide, high and low, THEPOPFIX finds celebutants, musicians, actors, philanthropists, to normal Angelenos in the region who you as readers need to know to be “in-the-know!” So check us out every Friday, and see who’s poppin! Who knows, maybe even you or someone you know may land on our pages! Know someone who should be included in THEPOPFIX Pick? Email us at THEPOPFIX@gmail.com

The Gentlemen- Chester French

The Harvard graduate “it” boys of 2008, (and Pharell’s protégés,) are finally becoming the “it” boys of the mo’ with the announcement of their debut album dropping on March 31st of this year, making them our THE POP FIX Pick of the Week.

Update: Our Pick of last week, Sam Sparro, was recently nominated for a Grammy this week, congrats!

Chester French is comprised of two unabashed Harvard graduates who aren’t afraid to say that well, they may be just a little brilliant. With the buzz they saturated themselves with last year (there was a fight between two labels to sign them,) and the bizarre hip-hop street cred they’ve acquired (from maintaining “white face,”) it’s easy to conclude that their Harvard degrees weren’t received haphazardly. And on March 31st, with their debut album, “Love the Future,” the two will prove just why they received so much attention.
The band is made up of college buddies, D.A Wallach, and Maxwell Drummey, who met as college freshmen. The band’s name was inspired by Daniel Chester French, the Lincoln Memorial sculptor and was comprised of then five members with a sound that was described as being “gentleman rock.”

The band never went far.

That was, until the two began changing their sounds to a hip-hop rooted, surf/psych rock sound, with an indie and electronic undertone. Both pay homage to vintage Dr. Dre while creating momentum for the beginnings of a new, distinct, clean sound.

After sending their demos to indie labels and being rejected, the duo turned to hip hop. About a week after they sent their demos to both Kanye West’s label, G.O.O.D., (of Island) and Pharell’s, Star Trak (of Interscope) they were immediately called back with offers from both. Eventually, Pharell signed the two because he was the only one to offer complete creative freedom.

Pharell said of the bidding war: And if you think about it, think about where they come from and… okay! It’s funny. But you know what? Think about it man. Like, Harvard grads? And then on top of that, there really was a bidding war and it really was incredible and we really lost our minds and you’re really about to see a great, incredible show.

And so the band went to intergalactic stardom. Sort of.

In 2007, the relatively unknowns were given much light and buzz from major magazines including GQ who predicted the two were going to change the music industry. With their song, “She Loves Everybody,” making waves in the underground indie scene and being featured in the closing credits of HBO’s Entourage, the band suddenly found instant fame.

The tabloids started following them, well, because of the “marriage” which we won’t acknowledge. [We'll forgive Drummey for his antics over the summer when he married mega-mogul Sir Bob Geldof's, daughter/socialite, Peaches Geldof (aka the Paris Hilton of London, but much, much cooler.) Because children, this band is just that crazy. ]

The song is coy, and insinuates a lot about a girl who seems to love just about everybody. The lyrics in the chorus are genius: “But you feel so clean/well she craves affection/so I use protection/and I know she loves me/she loves everybody.” Is the girl promiscuous or does she just love cuddling and being lovey-dovey with everybody? Is Chester French saddened by the fact that the girl is spreading HIV-love or do they think she’s cute for gaining the affections of many? Does she “feel clean,” because of the fact that she chewed gum in the morning instead of brushing her teeth, or because she’s sexually faithful to her lover(s) for the time being?

Another plus for the boys: they know their shoes. Their other song, “Jimmy Choos” is almost a homage to the Beach Boys, with a strumming guitar in the background playing to an upbeat Hawaii Five-O surfer track. The song coos to a girl who loves her Jimmy Choos and plays off of symbolism with the girl’s shoes. It’s no coincidence that Choos and “shoes” rhyme. Imagine if the song was called “Christian Louboutins.”
If you haven’t heard of the band by now, you’ve obviously been living under a stack full of M.I.A CDs blasting “Paper Planes” as if you knew it in 2007 when it first came out (Pff to Pineapple Express.)

It’s 2009, and while Chester French wonders if she loves everybody, we at THE POP FIX know that we love them.

Get ready for the gentlemen–they’ll treat you right on the ears.