"You are the girl/that I've been dreaming of/Ever since I was a little girl" croons lead singer Reggie Youngblood, and the gender neutrality of the line is telling--remember, we're buzzed but not blitzed, and it's in those moments when you look around the bobbing heads on the dance floor, and maybe every pair of eyes is open with opportunity, whether they belong to a lady, or a dude, or something in between. It's not so much that you want to feel someone next to you; it's that you'd like to feel anyone next to you.
I could take apart this song all day, but it pales next to actually hearing the damn thing.
The other great pop song on Partie Traumatic is "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)." I realize it's not exactly popular to be clever in modern pop music, especially when one can bleat a shallow ditty about kissing a girl and sit atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 years. But gadDAMN, is this a clever tune. Every couplet is quotable, but here's my favorite:
"You're on your honeymoon, and you're sending me notes
You hope to 'see' me soon; you've got 'see' wrapped in quotes"
That's about as good as it gets, right there...at least, until the tune's fakeout ending, when an entirely new chord structure kicks in to vocalist Ali Youngblood's yowls of "Baa baa, baa baa; baa baa, baa baa; beep beep, beep beep; booooooo."
Sometimes that's all you need to say.
Which is not to say that the rest of Partie Traumatic is a shambles; quite the opposite. The title track, the other two songs that migrated from their four-track internet EP Wizard of Ahhhs ("Hit the Hearbreaks" and "Hurricane Jane"), and tunes like "Love Me Already" share the same vibe of exquisite heartbreak, delirious pop shimmy, and sly humor.
It's just that these two songs are so right-on that it's impossible to forget them. Again, most bands would take years to find ONE song as good as "I'm Not Gonna Teach..." or "I've Underestimated My Charm," and Black Kids has TWO songs this good on their FIRST record.
I anticipate great things. Great, catchy, boozy things.
Article comments
1 - Scott D.
As entertaining a review as any I've read recently...
And more to the point, it inspired me to go out and download the CD (legally of course).
2 - jadedconformist
Great review. Thx
3 - calypso
ok..just saw black kids on david letterman show..i was actually excited and hoping to hear something new and refreshing... keep in mind..i am not a young kid..i am 34 yrs old... while this groups lead singer gives the band the "cure" seasoning... and that i can get into..i was sadly unimpressed with the lyrics of alot of their songs after doing a net search for more... their instrument abilities are not bad..with some more practise they may achieve greatness..but really..someone needs to write their music for them as they lack because of their constant repeating the "hook" of their songs... their lyrics hold no value because no one wants to hear the same thing over n over n over...quit beatn the dead horse..get some imagination....i can record my neice singin "row row row ur boat..merely merely merely gently down the stream" and still get that mind numbing feeling u get hearing stupid words just being repeated..even the new kids on the block had more substance for being a pretty boy band in their time of hype.