Album Review

I guess you could call it ironic that one of the hottest buzz bands of 2008 plays music that would have fit comfortably on the charts in the early 1980’s somewhere between ABC and Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Black Kids, an interracial, intergender band from Jacksonville, Florida, may seem like throwbacks ready-made for dissection by snarky comics on VH1, but their debut album, “Partie Traumatic,” is like a blast of adrenaline to today’s somewhat somber music scene.

Set in some imaginary world full of nightclubs and Friday nights, “Partie Traumatic” never aspires to anything deeper than a good time. Lead singer Reggie Greenwood sings in a fey, quasi-British lilt that sounds like Robert Smith if The Cure only sang upbeat songs like “Just Like Heaven.” And he often engages in call-and-response exchanges with keyboardists Dawn Watley and Ali Greenwood (Reggie’s sister), which makes Black Kids sound like a 2008 version of Human League.

The ladies on the keyboards drive the sound along with Owen Holmes strutting bass lines; Reggie Greenwood’s lead guitar is little more than an afterthought. Those keyboards bring home the 80’s feel of songs like first single “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance,” a clear homage to The Cure, “I Wanna Be Your Limousine,”reminiscent of Depeche Mode, and “Hurricane Jane,” which unabashedly gets its Kajagoogoo on.

With the lightweight sound, it takes a charismatic personality to push the songs across, and Greenwood has it and then some. He can play the smooth paramour (“Hurricane Jane”) or the jilted lover (“Love Me Already”) with equal aplomb. The lyrics are really just a collection of one-liners strung together (“Hit The Heartbreaks” actually starts off with a knock-knock joke), but occasionally Greenwood gets at something deeper. “I’m Making Eyes At You,” as close as Black Kids gets to a ballad, hints at the illusion inherent in seduction that’s impossible to sustain, suggesting that the best romances are the ones that never take place (“Even as we speak/We kill the mystique”).

To sustain the momentum of “Partie Traumatic,” Black Kids will have to eventually venture off the dance floor and into the real world. But for now, let’s enjoy galloping songs like “Hit The Heartbreaks” for what they are: anachronistic and just in time.

No Comments »