Blog band delivers with danceable first LP
Childlike call-and-response vocals, ecstatic, shiny dance-floor sensibilities and enough hooks to reel in an entire sea of club-going teenagers buoy this debut full-length release from Jacksonville, Fla. quintet Black Kids. The band hits hard with the follow up to its 2007 demo EP Wizard of Ahhhs, which previously released four of the tracks on this new LP. Black Kids first experienced a massive hype wave last year in the U.K., then eventually in the States, despite having no proper record and being largely unable to afford any real promotion. Having finally nailed down solid support and with settling levels of backlash, Partie Traumatic makes good on the band's early promise with dance-pop anthems like "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)" and the standout "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance." [Read more...]
The LP releases today on Columbia, and can be found here. I wouldn't be talking about it if it wasn't a ton of fun.
Call it a silly love, but here's a video of my favorite track, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You":
Lest we forget.
8 comments:
The contrast between this and the Pfork review is staggering.
I have the record at home but haven't listened to it just yet. Hoping it's more in line with your review than the pugs.
Ha, yeah I saw that. Can't say I necessarily agree with their journalistic technique on that one...
It's funny, I didn't actually mean for my review to be quite so glowing. It's definitely not without flaws, but I enjoyed it overall. It came out of editing a lot more one-sided than when I wrote it...and I wrote it really quickly really late at night...guess I should be more careful about stuff like that :)
I've been watching the Black Kids saga since CMJ and was wondering how Pitchfork was going to react, and their review was as hilarious as it was disappointing.
I'd have to agree with you, simpy fun and fine. That "next Arcade Fire" moniker they got really didn't do them any favors in the long run.
Good Lord, did somebody actually call them the "next Arcade Fire"? Black Kids are a lot of fun, but that's just ridiculous hyperbole. Next Hot Hot Heat, maybe. I don't think they even *try* to be in the same artistic ballpark as Arcade Fire.
Yeah, check this out: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/46095-wizard-of-ahhhs-ep
I'm not sure if they were actually called that right out or if it spiraled from the second paragraph of the P4k review (above) from Athens PopFest last year. I think I get what the writer means about "communal urgency," but I would in no way say they're even supposed to be considered in the same category as Arcade Fire.
http://www.oxegen.ie/2008/node/162
Aha, you can see the breadcrumb trail. By P4k saying "a communal urgency not unlike the Arcade Fire's" then lesser websites such as this one can say that they are "already been hailed as the next Arcade Fire".
That phrase is probably the new death knell for up and coming bands.
...and I immediately regret using the term "lesser" to compare a website to Pitchfork.
This is probably the best review of their new album I've read. They're from Jacksonville so we've been pretty inundated with Black Kids information since The Rolling Stone thing.
I'm glad you weren't susceptible to the seemingly overwhelming anti-Black Kids sentiment online.
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