If you're just catching on to the existence of a new wave of French pop — made up of acts like Daft Punk, Justice, M83 and the Teenagers — you may have missed our earlier stories on these American-culture-loving musicians. Our resident Francophile John Norris talked to the filthy-mouthed Teenagers (while they noshed on hot dogs) on the set of "Gossip Girl" back in May. And in June, he talked to M83's Anthony Gonzalez about the influence John Hughes' '80s teen classics had on his heavily synthesized sound.

After the jump, find out why these hip Europeans are avoiding the path of Serg Gainsbourg and singing in our decidedly less-romantic tongue.
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John Norris is a well-loved on-air correspondent, great lover of indie rock, and longstanding key player in the MTV News team. But somehow, yesterday afternoon in the newsroom turned from e-chatter about the Teenagers’ new video into straight-up Norris-razzing. (We think John kind of ultimately prevailed...)

Joseph Patel: Teenagers new video

James Montgomery: Wow, I totally forgot about these guys. Oh, and I meant that not in some "pssssh im over it" kind of way. More like a "holy crap I was so into this A MONTH ago" kind of way.

Newsroom: I second that emotion. But I will "remember" them when I blog about this in about 2 minutes. Are blogs memory aids...?

John Norris: I am almost done logging the interview. Monty SAYS we can do the piece once he makes his leisurely way back from the Movie Awards.

James Montgomery: Dang, how long does it take you to log an interview? Two months?

John Norris: With all these interruptions, maybe three.

James Montgomery: (my response)

Jim Cantiello: John, done with that Jeff Buckley interview yet?

Joseph Patel: I'd just like to chime in and say it's incredibly refreshing that on-air talent is actually logging interviews.

James Montgomery: I'd just like to chime in and say I've been eating massive handfuls of the granola that you keep on your desk.

John Norris: Why thank you. Transcribing, actually, verbatim. Some of us are team players...

Working at MTV News is always exhausting, often hilarious, sometimes crisis-inducing, and frequently surreal. As it was earlier this week, when on a single afternoon we played host to a slew of artists who have literally zip in common. We talked YouTube with Tokio Hotel, ate hot dogs with The Teenagers, and got all misty with Snoop as he talked about visiting Amsterdam "coffee shops" with Willie Nelson. Amazing.

Manhattan's swanky Palace Hotel normally serves as the "UES" HQ for the phenomenal "Gossip Girl" series. But this week it was home to another group of Teenagers: the French pop trio that apparently read the MTV News blog and decided to come Stateside just as the entire 29th floor was becoming obsessed with them at once. (OK, they have an album and a tour. Whatevs.)

Our own John Norris, riding the waves of ironic pop ecstasy, sat down with lead singer Quentin Delafon, guitarist Dorian Dumont, and bassist Michael Szpinern to talk about their Reality Check CD -- and, of course, "Gossip Girl," which featured their anthem "Feeling Better" in a recent episode. (Actually, they're asking their adorable female fans to shoot their own music videos for the single, which they say they're planning to edit into one self-referential masterpiece.)

The band also told us why they decided to make themselves a pronunciation-challenged English-language band, why the French music scene is kind of awful [Ed: MC Solaar!!], and how disappointed they were when they first learned that Britney Spears wasn't really a virgin. Sigh. Check back with MTV News for all of that.

After the interview, the boys were craving some authentic American cuisine, so they wandered down Madison Avenue to the nearest street vendor for hot dogs. After wolfing down his wiener, Quentin turned to the camera and exclaimed, "We love New York!"

Oh, Quentin, we hope you are not toying with us. We can never tell.

More pics from the shoot -- and their weekend NY show -- after the jump. Read more...

With all the talk about "GTA IV" keeping people from leaving their homes long enough to see "Iron Man," I thought I'd conduct an informal poll of some of the country's savviest relatively young people: MTV News staffers. A quick survey found that six people are settling in for a weekend of gaming, three are headed to the movies and two will somehow squeeze in both. But what are the majority of us — 13 people — doing this weekend? Neither! (Guys, I think this means we're the reason the economy is tanking.) After the jump, we justify our weekend plans. Read more...

MTV News shooter (and math rock aficionado) Brendan Kennedy had a heartfelt reaction to this week's "Gossip Girl" season premiere -- and it was a reaction full of haterade. You see, Brendan has discovered a British series that he's convinced is far superior. Perhaps, even, the greatest small-screen drama of all time...

Let me explain something to you: There is no stopping "Skins."

Except that you can't watch it unless you've got some international television scam cooked up with PAL, region-free DVDs, or the Internet. Because it's English, and super-racy. Maybe that's why it's so good. Maybe it's the chase, the hunt, and the love of the exotic.

A born New Yorker, I can honestly say I never wished I was a crazy-rich teenager fighting for my life through the newest fashions, like on "Gossip Girl." Then again, my first girlfriend did go to Brearley [Ed: Classic UES all-girls private school.], so that totally makes me the Brooklyn boy who struck it high-class. See also the movie Metropolitan.

However, I was and still am a crazy Anglophile, with the region-free DVD player to prove it. And as an Anglophile, I spent my high school years dreaming of all things punk, pop, and pulp about English tween life. And "Skins" -- maybe my favorite show ever -- is all that, everything I wanted my teenage life to be, even down to the amazing music supervision. I mean, The Magnetic Fields, MGMT, and The Teenagers in one series -- along with much better clothes, and smarter plot points. [Ed: You wish, Kennedy!]

"Gossip Girl" might be able to use The Teenagers in their soundtrack (as in the season premiere) and "OMFG" as their ads, but the show doesn't even come close to what "Skins" does for little me's wishing life could be just that much sleeker, sexier, and stylized.

Yeah, wow.

Brendan

P.S. I'm such a nerd, the show open is my ringtone.

The "Skins" trailer after the jump. Read more...

Let's be honest -- plenty of times, new-band buzz builds from the outside and works its way into media outlets. Like that year everybody who went to SXSW was forced to see Bloc Party play about seventeen times. Or when the hype around Black Kids heated up so damned fast that the bloggy backlash had started before the rest of us were done playing catch-up. But sometimes, just sometimes, a kind of consensus about a new artist builds from within in a way that's so organic it's a little creepy.

Case in point, the infiltration of the MTV News department by The Teenagers:

From: Fraenkel, Jim
To: Alex Mar
Subject: The Teenagers
So when these emails came, I was in my office listening to the Teenagers on my iPod. And Conor Bezane’s Facebook status read "I'm really into the Teenagers." Just scroll down...

From: Norris, John
To: Fraenkel, Jim
CC: Montgomery, James; Bezane, Conor; Kennedy, Brendan
Subject: The Teenagers

Not since a drunk Serge Gainsbourg turned to Whitney Houston on Michel Drucker’s talk show in 1984 and said about the young singer “I really want to f--- her” has an American experienced anything from France as delightfully raunchy as The Teenagers. James already gave em love in last week’s BTTS, and now I would love it if we could do something video-wise with them as well.

Their songs -- "Starlett Johansson," the genius "F--- Nicole," and of course the “Summer Nights” gone vulgar guy-girl singalong of "Homecoming" -- may require quite a lot of bleeping on our part, but they are priceless….

Let me know what you think….Merci bien, et vive les Teenagers….
J

P.S. Oh yeah, Conor and Brendan are also big fans, so I copied them on this as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Montgomery, James
To: Fraenkel, Jim; Norris, John; Bezane, Conor; Kennedy, Brendan
Subject: RE: The Teenagers

This is a really long email about a really good band.

Like I wrote in Bigger Than The Sound last week:

1. The Teenagers' Reality Check: An album's worth of ultra-profane Euro-pop about sex and partying and every European male's favorite hobby: seducing awestruck American girls. Plus a song that pokes fun at Jared Leto! If you hate the French (or cheerleaders), then "Homecoming" just might be the song you've waited your whole life for. And if you've ever found yourself wondering what Pulp would sound like if they were fronted by an effeminate, debased French dude, well, now you've got your answer.

James Montgomery

Then there was my recent e-chat with James, trying to figure this all out:

AM: So wait -- why do you like them?

JM: Some people here read WAAAAAAAY too much into them, but basically I think their album sounds like US Weekly/OK!/E!-The Musical.

AM: Whoa. That's a great way of putting it. Although I do believe that Pulp were way better.

JM: Oh yah, WAAAAAY better for sure. Also, I am like 90% sure that the Teenagers are a complete joke and we're all falling for it. Like, they're not trying at all.

AM: Um, yeah, I kind of agree with that. We're going to find out that the singer is actually James Murphy filtered through some crazy kind of French vocoder.

Videos from the Teenagers after the jump -- including their French-stalker ode to Scarlett Johansson. Totally worth it...and a little bit NSFW. Read more...