Têtes Raides is a French group whose music reunites elements of French poetry, theater, visual arts and the Big Top circus antics to create a very particular brand of contemporary French folk rock. The group was founded in Paris during the 1980s. Originally, they played music heavily influenced by the punk movement and depended on electric instruments. Their third album featured Anne-Gaëlle, a classically trained cellist, and marked a turning point in the group's music toward a more acoustic sound. The group's later efforts misleadingly take on the air of quotidian folk songs while actually using stunning musical arrangements, experimental soundscapes and poetic lyrics rife with very dark humor.