Partie Traumatic

Let us first of all deal with the ‘C’ word. Yes, Black Kids’ Reggie Youngblood's baroque yelp betrays an undeniable – one might say blatant – indebtedness to The Cure’s Robert Smith. But there’s more to this Jacksonville, Florida buzz five-some than eye-liner heavy second helpings of ‘80s goth. Their debut album, which we might have described as long awaited were it not for the fact that nobody outside the blogosphere had heard of the Black Kids until January last, is a roiling sea of cheerleader pop, jiggy-with-it playground rap and backward-glancing indie shtick (though it’s clear New Order looms larger in their personal pantheon than any spiky quiffed, Doc Marten sporting moochers that may spring to mind).
If there’s a problem, it’s that Black Kids set your expectations too high, too early. Recorded when Youngblood was still working as a male nanny, the album opens in a flash-bomb of childish glee: ‘Hit The Heartbrakes’, ‘Partie Traumatic’ and ‘Listen To Your Body Tonight’ knock you sideways via Go Team-esque call and response routines, Weezer guitars and Tilly and the Wall cheerleader chants. Alas, the quality threshold soon takes a precarious wobble and you do start to worry that Partie Traumatic is the archetypal rush released debut – an EP stretched to album length by a band propelled too quickly from obscurity.
‘Hurricane Jane’ is naggingly anthemic, seeking to pummel you into capitulation by repeating its chorus ad nauseam; ‘I’m Making Eyes At You’ throws up a soft for, of all people, Lloyd Cole – an affectation that serves only to highlight the callow quality of Youngblood’s lyrics (you wouldn’t find Cole putting his name to trite such as "They caught you in the park after dark/ giving head to a statue"). They fare better attempting to channel Talking Heads – the glitch-heavy ‘Love Me Already’ explores Fear Of Music-era avant-funk – whilst the Prince-tinged ‘I Wanna Be Your Limousine’ pleads persuasively for admission to the pantheon of great songs about having sex with your car. Recommended for anyone who thinks pop music succeeds best when it is brightly-hued, pretension-light and promiscuous with its influences. And unreconstructed Cure fans, obviously.

Key Track: ‘Hit The Heartbrakes’