Line #39 Music/CaravanPalace


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caravan_palace_thumb_450x340_44518.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Don't ''panic'', just Swing!]]
3	->''Hey, brother, what you thinking?\
4	Leave that old record spinning\
5	You feel the rhythm going\
6	They call it lonely diggin' ''
7	-->--'''"Lone Digger"'''
8
9	[floatboxright:Influences:
10	+ Music/DaftPunk
11	+ Music/DjangoReinhardt
12	+ Lionel Hampton
13	+ Vitalic
14	]
15
16	Caravan Palace is an ElectroSwing band hailing from UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, UsefulNotes/{{France}}.
17
18	So far, they have released:
19	* ''Caravan Palace'' (2008)
20	* ''Panic'' (2012)
21	* ''<I°_°I>'' (2015[[note]]alternatively referred to by fans as ''Robot Face'' or ''Robot''[[/note]])
22	* ''Chronologic'' (2019)
23	* ''Gangbusters Melody Club'' (2024)
24	Current Singles:
25	* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_JxMb8RLEY Black Betty]]'' (2016)
26	* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRP9k9nlAfE Miracle]]'' (2019)
27	* ''MAD'' (2023)
28	* ''Reverse'' (2023)
29	* ''Mirrors'' (2024)
30	----
31	!!This band provides examples of:
32	* AmbiguousSyntax: "Don't leave the party dying." is a lyric in "Lone Digger". In context of the music video's BarBrawl, one can parse it as "Don't leave the party [by] dying".
33	* AnthropomorphicVice: The refrain of "Spirits" is the spirits themselves (as in alcohol) singing to the audience.
34	-->''Yes, say it to your friend, tell it to the world\
35	[[DrinkBasedCharacterization Distilled for real men]], ready to be served, ah\
36	Tell it to the world, [[LiquidCourage I silence a lot of fears]]\
37	[[PinkElephants Your dreams unfurl]]''
38	* AlbumTitleDrop: Of the music video variety; the first of the title cards in the "Rock It For Me" music video simply reads ''Panic!''
39	* AlienInvasion: The subject of the "Rock It For Me" music video.
40	* AnimatedMusicVideo: Occasionally ventured into with different results. The video for "Jolie Coquine" features StopMotion animation, the videos for "Lone Digger", "Wonderland", "Miracle", and "Moonshine" feature different types of 2D animation ("Lone Digger" involving {{Rotoscoping}}), and the video of "Rock It For Me" features a mix of 2D and 3D animation.
41	* AnimalJingoism: In the "Lone Digger" video, we have a trio of cat-people sitting at a table across from a group of dog-people. Guess what happens. Answer: ''NOTHING GOOD.''
42	* ArtDeco: The music videos for "Suzy" and "Rock It For Me" display this style of aesthetic.
43	* ArtInitiatesLife: The video for "Supersonics" features various characters in colorful street art coming to life, occasionally leaping into the 3D world, even managing [[PortalPicture to rope in a curious onlooker into their 2D world]]. [[HilarityEnsues Hijinx ensues.]]
44	* BreakTheCutie: The robot from the "Plume" video seems to genuinely want to get along with the regular citizens in Tokyo, but for various reasons, he gets constantly rejected. The climax involves him finally integrating into a group of {{Cosplay}}ers and even confessing to one of them, who seems to reciprocate... [[HopeSpot until she realizes his robot head is]] NotAMask. [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding And then he gets]] [[KillTheCutie run over by a car]].]]
45	* CallBack: "About You" can be seen as a follow-up to "Wonderland", both both involving the same female singer and her badass attitude. Except "About You" implies it's not fake this time.
46	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: In the "Wonderland" video, the real world is depicted in blue and cool purple, whereas the main character's DreamLand is depicted in red and warm purple.
47	* CoverDrop: The club featured in the "Lone Digger" has the titular robot face as a logo.
48	* CoverVersion:
49	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_JxMb8RLEY They have a cover of]] "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Betty Black Betty]]", a 20th-century folk song that was also previously covered by acts such as Ram Jam, Tom Jones, and Spiderbait.
50	** No studio version, but the band has done live covers of Music/CabCalloway's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rCO8Eoj-HU Minnie the Moocher]]" on a number of occasions.
51	* CrossoverPunchline: [[spoiler:The video for "Moonshine" ends with the flat-Earther protagonist reaching the edge, breaking through... and ending up in the strip club from "Lone Digger". For bonus points, he's implied to be the donkey.]]
52	* DanceBattler: The HumongousMecha from "Rock It For Me" manages to wipe out an entire alien invasion ''BY DANCING.''
53	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''<I°_°I>'' can be considered this, with the music taking influence from harder, more raw electronic styles, with slightly moodier melodies even in the comparatively brighter pieces. Also, the music videos range from [[MindScrew symbolically confusing]] [[{{Gorn}} to outright horrifying.]]
54	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCXsRoyFRQE The video to "Wonderland"]] is far less literal and narrative-driven than most of the band's videos, instead featuring more vibrantly artsy, stylish, yet surreal and dream-like animation throughout the whole thing.
55	* DisasterDominoes: "Lone Digger". One of the dogs trips the waitress, spilling milk on the cats who respond by killing one of the dogs. In the meantime, a snake takes the opportunity to attack the waitress which attracts the attention of the bouncer. The death of the dog leads to the bouncer getting distracted when he is sprayed by the blood. The distraction allows the snake to lethally poison him while one of the dog's friends takes vengeance on the cat by ripping his throat out. Another dog receives a nasty chest wound by one of the cats while the other dog gets the thin end of a comb shoved in his eye. The bouncer literally rips the snake in half length-wise and other members of the bar join the fight when they are enraged by being sprayed with blood. In less than a minute, 90% of the people in the bar are dead.
56	* DisposableSexWorker: In "Lone Digger", [[spoiler:this is both {{subverted\|Trope}} and {{Inverted\|Trope}}! The bar fight is kicked off by a scantily-clad waitress spilling a drink on someone, but he ignores her to attack the one who deliberately tripped her. Then a second patron tries to attack the waitress, for no apparent reason, but the bouncer stops him at the last second. The whole time, no one attacks the stripper, and the video ends on her [[FailedASpotCheck only just noticing]] that everyone around her is dead.]]
57	* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Lone Digger", the club fight starts when one of the dogs trips the waitress causing her to spill her drinks on the cats. One of the cats slashes the throat of the top dog then one of the snakes takes the opportunity to try to eat the waitress. After it's all said and done, 90% of the people in the bar are dead over a couple spilled glasses of milk.
58	* DrunkOnMilk: The cats in "Lone Digger" seemly get wasted drinking milk. Also, whatever the dogs are drinking, it isn't scotch or whiskey.
59	* ElectroSwing: One of the most recognized names in the genre. Somewhat uniquely in that the "swing" part of the music is all performed by live musicians rather than {{sampling}} vintage jazz records.
60	* EyeScream: One of the dogs in "Lone Digger" gets the thin end of a comb shoved into his eye.
61	* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Half the [[CallAndResponseSong call and response]] in the refrain of "Miracle" is the two vocalists each singing half of a pair of sentences.
62	-->''(Help one another) connect back with the people\
63	(Give it to your lover) and all the people you miss''
64	* FishOutOfWater: The music video for "Plume" features an alien robot crash-landing in Tokyo and trying to blend in with the locals. [[TraumaCongaLine It sadly doesn't go well for him]], and in the moments where it does, [[HopeSpot it's not for long]].
65	* FunnyAnimal: Of the "Lone Digger" video. [[{{Gorn}} "Funny" in this context could be a bit of a stretch, though.]]
66	* GangBangers: The video for "Midnight" centers on two Compton street hoods, their rise to power, and defeat at the hands of ... a {{vigilante\|Man}} cowboy?
67	* GenreMashup: Again, goes without saying. They play gypsy jazz mixed with French house/techno and electro influences.
68	* HumongousMecha: The giant swinging robot in the video for "Rock It For Me" is this, almost 50 feet high.
69	* IcarusAllusion: The lyrics of "Plume" invoke the imagery of the myth -- an invitation to ride on the singer's feathers all the way to the sun -- to describe what sounds like [[IntercourseWithYou a spicy rendezvous]].
70	* ImpromptuTracheotomy: How the first cat dies in "Lone Digger". One of the dogs rips his throat out with his teeth.
71	* IndecipherableLyrics: Between the WordSaladLyrics, fudging English grammar, frequent audio filters (especially for backing vocals), and the singers' accents, many of the band's lyrics are hard to parse--which includes figuring out which parts are even ''supposed'' to be words and not {{scatting}}. The lyrics may also drowned by the music ("Rock It For Me") or sampled from other songs and scrambled (''Clash'').
72	* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: The -- erm... [[{{Pun}} climax]] of the "Lone Digger" video has a ''very'' bloody fight in a strip club, with the stripper continuing to dance even as blood splashes all around her.
73	* JunglePrincess: The ''conquistador'' of the "Miracle" music video encounters a hoard of NubileSavage women, led by this. [[spoiler:This is all subverted, however, when it's revealed that ''he's'' the primitive one and has been abducted by a technologically advanced society.]]
74	* LighterAndSofter: ''Panic'', while building off many of the upbeat swing and jazz elements from their self-titled album, tones down the loud, rustic aesthetic for a relatively softer and more gentle sound.
75	* LuckyCharmsTitle: ''<I°_°I>'', officially just pronounced as ''Robot Face.'' [[https://www.reddit.com/r/CaravanPalace/comments/3q1es7/ama_hi_were_caravan_palace_ask_us_everything/cwb81a9 According to this Reddit AMA,]] [[NoodleIncident it came from an email typing accident]] and someone said it looked like their mascot robot, so it stuck.
76	* LyricalDissonance: The lyrics to "April" are soft and carefree in tone for the most part, mostly depicting cheerful, natural imagery, but are offset by the recurring line "April, please, ''lower your gun".'' What it actually means is anyone's guess, but it changes the atmosphere of the song considerably.
77	* LyricsVideoMismatch: The lyrics of "Miracle" encourage the listener to stop wallowing in self-pity and reconnect with friends and people. The video shows a ''conquistador'' discovering an all-female civilisation, [[spoiler:really HumanAliens who forcefully use him as fuel for their sex-powered spaceship]].
78	* {{Mascot}}: Their unnamed robot has appeared on all their album covers (and with the case of ''<I°_°I>'' is both the album cover ''and'' the album title) and has appeared prominently in the music videos for "Suzy" and "Rock It For Me".
79	* MediumBlending: The "Supersonics" video intermixes the live-action footage and [[ArtImitatesLife 2D street art come to life]], with characters repeatedly jumping between the two realms either as live human performers or stylized animation.
80	* MsImagination: The bridge of "Wonderland" has the narrator wistfully noting that her gangster fantasies are just that -- fantasies -- and that she'll never be able to live out any of them in real life.
81	-->''I know all the best things never happen\
82	I'm just a random girl with gentle manners''
83	* NaturalWeapon: Near the beginning of "Lone Digger", one of the cats checks his claws. [[spoiler:Near the end, those claws are used, and things get messy.]]
84	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Chronologic'' features a more pop-oriented, vocal-centered sound than the other albums, which still placed more emphasis on instrumentals.
85	* OdeToIntoxication: "Spirits" seems to refer to the alcoholic kind being consumed. The lead vocals speak of experiencing euphoria and disorientation, then showing mood swings. The secondary vocals are the alcohol itself singing of its quality and merits.
86	* OhCrap: The look on the two dogs' faces [[spoiler:when their leader's throat is slashed open and he collapses]] in "Lone Digger".
87	** The hoods at the end of "Midnight" when they realize the Midnight Cowboy is on their tail.
88	* OutWithABang: One interpretation of [[spoiler:the end of the "Miracle" music video.]]
89	* PlatonicCave: A common interpretation of the video for "Comics". It features a masked lady in black watching over hordes of [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext people in crab walks]] staring at the ground, until a trio notice their reflection from a puddle, causing them to notice the sky and instead turning towards it. This catches the masked lady's attention, [[YankTheDogsChain and she flips them all back to re-impose her authority]]... [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere and then everyone ditches her]], leaving her alone and staring up at the sky herself.
90	* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The end of the "Miracle" video. [[spoiler:The supposed Mayan temple is actually an alien spaceship, powered by a hapless, seduced victim who either dies or is rendered catatonic in order to power it.]]
91	* PullThePlugOnTheTitle: The music video of "Lone Digger" begins with a shot of the blue-purple neon sign of a night club that shares its name with the song. Then it cuts to the three anthropomorphic cats approaching it.
92	* RejectionAffection: "About You" is a back-and-forth between a woman rejecting a man who keeps trying to pursue her. The latter implies [[BelligerentSexualTension the former might actually love him back beneath her attitude]], though she never confirms or denies it.
93	* RevisitingTheRoots: By the band's own admission, ''Gangbusters Melody Club'' was made with a "back to the roots" ethos after a string of {{New Sound Album}}s, culminating with the pop-oriented ''Chronologic''. By contrast, ''Gangbusters Melody Club'' is a "best-of" invocation of their previous takes on electro swing, featuring the dance-heavy swing of their self-titled debut, the more ambient and relaxed textures of ''Panic'', and the cinematic electronic-heavy atmosphere of ''<I°_°I>''.
94	* {{Sampling}}: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. The band mostly subverts using samples for the "swing" portion of their ElectroSwing style, preferring to use authentic live instruments, but occasionally they'll slip in a vintage audio clip here and there, either of basic instrumentation or just SpokenWordInMusic.
95	* {{Scatting}}: Used quite frequently. They even have a song from their first album [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin called Star Scat]] that's filtered through a vocoder.
96	* SelfTitledAlbum: Their debut album, simply titled ''Caravan Palace''.
97	* SexIsViolence: A notable part of "Lone Digger" has the stripper continuing to dance even as the club erupts into violence and she is sprayed with blood. She doesn't seem to notice this happening as she rubs the blood into her fur and closeups of her body keep coming in between shots of people getting torn apart.
98	* SharedUniverse: The ending of ''Moonshine'' ends with [[spoiler:the video's main character ending up in the ''Lone Digger'' bar.]]
99	* ShoutOut:
100	** [[https://www.reddit.com/r/CaravanPalace/comments/1au38rs/hi_again_were_caravan_palace_ask_us_anything/kr1acq8/ As per their own word]], the band gets its name from "Caravan" -- the classic jazz standard by Music/DukeEllington -- and Le Palace -- a famous night club in Paris.
101	** The factory in "Rock It For Me" includes the gears from ''Film/ModernTimes'' and the "Moloch Machine" from ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''.
102	* SiameseTwinSongs: Technically subverted with "Dramophone" and "Beatophone" from ''Panic'', in that the songs don't play back-to-back, but otherwise fit the bill, having similar titles and similar beats.
103	* SlashedThroat: This how the gorn starts in "Lone Digger". The head cat uses his claws to slash open the top dog's throat.
104	* SlobsVersusSnobs: The conflict in "Lone Digger" appears to be based on this, although it's inverted from its usual use with animals: the dogs wear business suits while the cats are college students.
105	* SnakesAreSinister: The snake in the "Lone Digger" video attacks a waitress for no apparent reason than her tripping providing an opening. And when the bouncer subdues him non-violently, a second snake immediately bites him.
106	* SoundtrackDissonance: "Lone Digger"'s dark, violent music video clashes strongly with the song's upbeat, catchy rhythms.
107	* SpokenWordInMusic: Mostly done through old samples, such as the break in the album version of "Dramophone" and the intro to "Mighty."
108	* SpontaneousChoreography: In the "Dramaphone" music video, a group of bikers and a group of partying girls come close to fighting at a diner; the staff promptly breaks open a glass case containing a record disc and plays it, causing the two groups, the staff, and [[SummonBackupDancers basically everyone in the vicinity]] to start dancing.
109	* StealthInsult: An obscure one:[[spoiler:when the Flat-Earther in "Moonshine" shows up at the "Lone Digger" bar, the drink he gets is has a carrot as a garnish. The one character in "Lone Digger" who had a drink like that was the donkey. [[DontExplainTheJoke In other words]], he's being called an ass]].
110	* SurrealMusicVideo: The video for "Comics" features a masked lady in black [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext commanding mass hordes of people doing crab-walks.]]
111	* TextlessAlbumCover: ''<I°_°I>'', which consists of the aforementioned "robot" depicted as a neon sign.
112	** ''Chronologic'', which just features a bust of the band's robot mascot.
113	* TinCanRobot:
114	** A 1930s-style metallic robot is often featured on their album covers.
115	** A gigantic classic retro-style is built in the music video of "Rock It For Me". A human-sized robot dances in the music video of "Suzy".
116	* TitleTrack: There's one for ''Panic''.
117	* WordSaladTitle: "Human Leather Shoes for Crocodile Dandies" from ''<I°_°I>''. In the lyrical content there is for the song, [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext there is still nothing that explains this title]].
118	* {{Zeerust}}: Their mascot bot is based on old scifi robots, and is used on all three album covers (and is even shopped from [[https://www.otrcat.com/images/robots.jpg an existing image]] on their debut album) and the music videos for Rock It For Me and Suzy. The music video for Mighty also consists of several clips of robots both new and old.

Context Music / CaravanPalace