Papooz at Turf Club (May 2, 2025)

Tour Dates

It was an evening of European indie pop at St. Paul’s Turf Club on a cool Saturday evening. With French band Papooz on tap, it was looking to be an evening of groove pop.

British-American artist Cornelia Murr (Cornelia Livingston) was the opener for the night. She released her debut album, Lake Tear of the Clouds in 2018 and her second album, Run to the Center here in 2025 (damn the pandemic). The quartet is composed of Murr on keyboards, vocals and other percussion, and supported by a bass player on back up vocals, drums, and a sax player also on other instruments, including flute.

We were told it was night one of the tour for Cornelia Murr, and outside of one or two minor hiccups, you wouldn’t have known. The band had a great, slow vibe on Pushing. Murr’s singing style is perfectly suited to this dreamy music, and the song How was an excellent example of Murr driving the song forward, including dual whistling over the bridge. In the Wings had Murr out in front of the keys at the front of the stage, as well as an underlying sax instrumentation. The band leaned into the “first night of the tour” in a way that made the performance even more enjoyable and the audience wanting to be supportive.

Layaway had Murr back on keyboards and I think there’s a real strength to that extra layer of sound for the band. When the band’s full sound, including the bassist on back up vocals, is going, this really highlights their sound and skill. A strong reverb on the instruments towards the end increased that dream pop, almost shoegaze sound. With a few songs left, they took the opportunity to introduce the rest of the band before launching back into the music.

I spoke briefly with Murr between sets. I asked about her recently setting up in Red Cloud, Nebraska and how that happened. Murr said that she likes to stay somewhat close to her mother, who raised her on her own. Her mother had been spending time in Eau Claire, WI and started driving to New Mexico to go live, but stopped in Red Cloud and didn’t leave. The town that author Willa Cather settled in is something special for both women, and Murr purchased a dilapidated house (“for cheap!”). As she explained it, “I am a study in contrasts” and that small town offers her a home base. It also lets her be “sonically distant”, as she prefers to be alone when creating music. All of the rest of her time is spent in big cities and touring, and this provides a change of pace. A fascinating story from an enjoyable musician and artist.

Parisian-based band Papooz was up next. The pair, comprised of vocalists and guitarists Armand Penicaut and Ulysse Cottin has been playing in the indie pop / dream pop sound for about a decade. Their first early hit Ann Wants to Dance on their debut album Green Juice (2016) is a perfect dream alt number and has given the band a hook to hang their hat on ever since. Last year’s Resonate is a perfect album to tour on, and the band found themselves in St. Paul for the first time.

Papooz appeared as a quintet, with drums, bass and keys to support Penicaut and Cottin (it turns out some of the rest of the band is French-Canadian). And really, this is indie pop at its most fun. Resonatewas a great showcase for Penicaut’s nearly alto vocals. As they moved through the early songs, we got the range of the band: both leads singing, music that ranged from pop to funky with the appropriately titled Simply Funk just outstanding. The band is one of those that is so much more interesting live, as they play off the audience and each other.

Cocaine Angel had a western feel, while still maintaining that pop feel (Is that a European thing?). Musical interludes felt like what the song needed rather than, “this is where the solo goes”. Hell of a Woman got Cottin off the guitar, singing at the very front of the stage, for a song of heartbreak, before coming back on guitar for the closing solo. It Hurts Me had Penicaut back on vocals and this time, on percussion. The band easily swings between indie and funk, with a great keyboard solo to end the song.

We went into a fan favorite section with No One Else getting the crowd pumped. After that, there was an audience member brought on stage for a “musical portrait” on the keyboards. An odd, but amusing interlude. This was followed by Ann Wants to Dance, and it tipped the crowd onto the high end of the Richter scale. It’s their most well known song for a reason and it was played well. The sax player from Cornelia Murr came on for that song’s latter solo, and was perfectly placed.

As we headed toward the close, the band continued to push forward. Considering my expectation that this might be only be a duo, it’s worth noting how much the rest of the band brought to the overall sound. There was a sudden change of pace, with the bassist getting a turn at lead for an Italian inspired song called Antonino, sung in Italian. It’s one of those moments in a concert that feels like, “you had to be there” to truly understand it. A jazzy piano intro for Reminiscense, was meant to call back to Sinatra’s One For My Baby (And One More for the Road). I’m not sure it got near those heights, but the idea was there. Ending the main set, Papooz came back as the duo for an encore. They started with Don’t Talk to Strangers, a perfect song for the two of them to shine (though they had to fight a bit of audience chatter). Finishing on Zigs and Gorgonzola (with the whole band again), Papooz left the audience with those strong funky, European-inspired riffs.