Profile picture of DVTR. Found on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, and DVTR website.
by Sid Sharpe
College is a terrific opportunity to learn new things, right? Maybe even a new language. Well, coming from Quebec, I was very introverted, and somewhat competent in French and coming to Ontario I felt like it was slipping away from me. This revelation led me to discover French alternative music with a song named “Comme une Sablier” by De Flore on the station. Listening to it, I fell down a rabbit hole of the genre, finding a band named DVTR. It made want to follow the bands, look up the meanings of their songs and got me talking, something that doesn’t come naturally. By doing this, I learnt unfamiliar words and conversational skills.
DVTR is a francophone-punk duo from Montreal, that was created by Demi Lune or Laurence Giroux-Do and Jean Divorce or JC Tellier from Le Couleur. The formation of the band was a spur of the moment decision. “I felt like doing what I wanted and pissing off whoever I wanted without having career repercussions!” Says Demi Lune in CULT MTL and it’s clear in their music. Most of their songs have deep and taboo lyrics with an energetic beat. The best way I can describe it, is their sound is similar to Wet Leg, but angrier. DVTR’s process of making music is straightforward and a vibe, “We party and just go at it and plug everything straight in the computer and that’s it. No more big studios and months of overthinking, we like to keep it simple and raw” the band explained in an interview with ABSO Magazine.
On their debut EP, BONJOUR, my favourite songs are DVTR, Vasectomia, Les flics (sont des sacs à merde), and Les Olympiques. Track 1 or DVTR, after translating, is about a mother who works in a rice field, where the rice goes to California. It has themes of overconsumption, greed and capitalism. Vasectomia is about the double standards of women compared to men, reproductive rights, or health, and slut shaming. Les flics (sont des sacs à merde), I’m sure you can partly guess what’s the title, is about police brutality, the justice system, how values are passed down from generations and how bigotry is learnt. This song made me learn a new word “les flics,” which in English is cops. Their latest song, Les Olympiques, was released in July 2024, and is about the toll of the Olympics on the host country, its people, and the athletes.
Moral of the story, don’t fear the unknown, because you never know what you might find. I mean, being in the radio station has led me to find friends and some of my favourite songs like “Diet Cigarette” by Noise Hotel and “car crash in G minor” by fanclubwallet and other Ottawa music for my playlists. It’s gotten me out of my comfort zone and made me branch out. You never know what you’ll find out there, maybe it’ll be French alternative music.
Bonjour (BIS) (deluxe EP), by DVTR. DVTR. (n.d.). https://dvtr.bandcamp.com/album/bonjour-bis-deluxe-ep
MacDonald, D. (2023, December 18). DVTR deals in their own version of punk and a truly unpredictable live show. Cult MTL. https://cultmtl.com/2023/12/dvtr-deals-in-their-own-version-of-punk-and-a-truly-unpredictable-live-show/
Wheller, D. (2024, April 26). Meet: DVTR. ASBO Magazine. https://www.asbomagazine.com/2024/04/30/meet-dvtr/
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