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Excuse My French Clothing is an alternative rock band drawn to the darker side of the human

experience. Driven by gritty guitars, hypnotic grooves, dry production, and deadpan vocals, the

music finds humor in frustration and meaning in defeat. The songs explore self-sabotage,

exhaustion, modern absurdity, and the uneasy feeling that something important has gone

missing. Equal parts cynical and cathartic, they offer no easy answers—only the comfort of

knowing you're not the only one thinking it.​​

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No gloss. No fake inspiration. No happy ending.

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Just tightly wound songs about deterioration delivered with enough dark humor to make the

collapse feel almost celebratory —dancing on the edge of the wreckage and secretly hoping the

floor gives way just to see what happens next.

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If you’re searching for light in the dark, look elsewhere, If you’ve made peace

with the inevitable spiral of your own making, you’ve finally found your band.

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Excuse My French Clothing originally began as a clothing brand built around shirts that read

“Va Te Faire Foutre” — French for “Go Fuck Yourself.” Founder Joe Rowley created the first

shirt as a passive-aggressive joke: a way to silently tell people exactly how he felt while

remaining outwardly polite. When strangers started asking where they could buy one,

a clothing company was born.

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When Rowley decided to focus entirely on writing and recording music on his own terms,

he carried the name Excuse My French Clothing into music. What started as a brand evolved

into a band carrying the exact same philosophy — detached, confrontational, and brutally self-aware

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Joe Rowley is a lifer — a musician who spent decades surviving through relentless shows,

industry misses, and being that close to a major record deal without ever fully crossing over.

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He eventually shifted into a career in New York’s fashion industry, working in sourcing and

production while traveling throughout South and Central America. The music never disappeared;

he continued co-writing, recording, releasing music, and performing live with musicians throughout

New York and New Jersey.

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In 2025, Rowley walked away from his previous projects and committed fully to Excuse My French Clothing,

building the band through a daily ritual of writing and recording before sunrise ahead of his commute into

New York City. The result is music shaped equally by exhaustion, disillusionment, discipline, and survival.

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Joining him is veteran guitarist and songwriter Johnny Rao, best known for his work alongside David Johansen

and Sylvain Sylvain of the legendary New York Dolls. Rao and Rowley share a long history across multiple projects,

including a record produced by Ed Stasium (Ramones, Talking Heads, Smithereens). Their chemistry is rooted in

the same CBGB-era DNA: aggressive, precise, and entirely free of pretense.

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Excuse My French Clothing released its debut single, “Singular Man,” in April 2026,

with additional releases planned throughout 2026.