- Release date:
- July 22, 2008
- Artist/Band name:
- Black Kids
- Record label:
- Columbia/Red Ink
- Official Web Site:
- http://www.blackkidsmusic.com/
Backstory: Like their kitchen-sink peers the Go! Team and Tilly and the Wall, Black Kids specialize in a Spector-like pop of steady backbeats, emotional vocals and angular weirdness that unfolds like a multi-hued ecstasy trip. Brother-sister combo Reggie and Ali Youngblood are front and center on vocals, guitar and synths, but the entire band is a rhythm section that could have given ABC or OMD a run for its money back in the '80s. The Jacksonville, Fla., crew broke into the mainstream last year after their "Wizard of Ahhs" EP made the press fawn.
Why you should care: Black Kids have ambition, that's for sure. Their wall-of-sound debut full-length explodes on almost every track, oscillating between funk, pop, hip-hop and more without missing a noisy beat. And they've got the tweens and teens by the text messages: tracks about sex, love, heartbreak and parties? Solid gold, baby.
Verdict: Youngblood's strained vocals straddle the fence between ecstasy and pain nicely, especially on the post-punk stomp of the title track and "Hit the Heartbreaks," but they are an acquired taste. He takes it down a notch on the throwback electro-pop of "Hurricane Jane" and "I'm Making Eyes at You," especially when he croons "I've been making these eyes since '82" like he just stepped out of "Sixteen Candles." But so it goes for 40 minutes. "Goddammit girl, just love me already," Youngblood emotes on "Love Me Already." He's that needy for the entire debut.
X-Factor: Remember '90s Brit-rockers Suede? Their guitarist, Bernard Butler, produced "Partie Traumatic."
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