The Loneliest Band in France

Mistaking an ad to join the titular The Loneliest Band in France for one to sell his blood, Migara de Silva, the novella's narrator - a Sri Lankan student, new to Montpellier - finds himself, instead, under the sway of the band, drinking heavily and being recruited to play a battle-of-the-bands-esque concert (that night) at the local CafÉ Bovary with its four members: NoËl, Guy, Lucien, and Michel. Not only is there prize money attached to the concert, the bandmates also see this as an opportunity to debut a new song, one, they claim, that can hurt - even kill - its listeners.