On the heels of Daft Punk, Air, and Phoenix, Nouvelle Vague is the latest chapter in a decade-old rebirth of French Pop and Dance music that is actually good. The brainchild of Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux, the group loosely mirrors the formula of Trip-Hop pioneers Massive Attack: Two permanent members fronted by a revolving cast of vocalists. What makes Nouvelle Vague worth checking is how they’ve chosen to contribute to the vast pile of musical artifacts created, cherished and often discarded in the last 100 years. Rock N’ Roll is basically dead, exhausted as an art form – most of the currently “hot” new bands are simply going back to the 80’s to mine that rich decade’s then-groundbreaking groups (Gang Of Four, Joy Division, Wire, just to name a few). To the uninitiated, this sounds like innovation. To the old heads, this cut and paste mimicry is boring and uninspired, with a few exceptions (like Bloc Party).

Leave it to a couple of wine-drinking, striped-shirt-wearing music veterans to put a unique twist on this cultural appropriation. Instead of stealing riffs, fashion cues and hairstyles, Libaux and Collins have chosen to craft love letters to the skinny-tie era by doing covers of classic New Wave tunes in a musical style very different from the originals. The first Nouvelle Vague CD featured songs by the Cure, Modern English, Depeche Mode and others. Performed in the old-school bossa nova style from Brazil, this method often produced a striking juxtaposition between the memory of the original and the new version, which tended to focus more on the lyrics and vocals. If you didn’t know the original or were born in the 90’s, you simply experienced a breath of breezy, Franco-Pop by a “hot” new band.

After a fair amount of success with the debut record (more than 200,000 copies sold), concerts in over twenty countries and lots of media coverage, the guys decided to produce a follow-up.

If this sounds like a cheesy Wedding Singer conceit, fear not, with Nouvelle Vague’s covers it’s all about transformation. Echo and the Bunnymen’s “Killing Moon” becomes a haunting downtempo lament (instead of an uptempo haunting lament) , The Buzzcocks’ punk-pop “Ever Fallen In Love” becomes a silky latin workout. Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” becomes, well, very French. Other highlights include U2’s “In The Name Of Love” (the song is actually pretty sans Bono’s overheated bellowing) and a rock-steady version of Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass.” My favorite track is a bluesy folk-funk take on “Shack Up," a semi-hit for post-punk funksters A Certain Ratio.

Smartly, Nouvelle Vague made ‘Bande A’ Part’s’ arrangements and overall feel different from the first album. This time the band wanted the tracks to have a more Caribbean feel, and prior to recording boned up on their knowledge of Mento (the Jamaican musical style that evolved into Reggae) and Calypso. Singers Melanie Pain, Marina and Silja return to deliver sexy, heartfelt emotion. New recruits Gerald Toto and Phoebe Killdeer also lend their talents.

Nouvelle Vague’s ‘Bande A’ Part’ offers some sweet aural pleasure to fans of “songs,” whether or not one is familiar with these particular originals. Either way it transports the willing traveler to a currently out of vogue place – the corner of “cool” and “fun.”