Partie Traumatic

For the inaugural post I decided to write about an album I've recently fallen in love with, Jacksonville quintet Black Kids' Partie Traumatic. Some of you might have heard their EP Wizard of Ahhhs containing four tracks that ended up on this album, including the track "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You," which created a lot of buzz around the time of the release of the EP last fall, causing Rolling Stone to name them an "Artist to Watch." Since then, this band has generated a lot of buzz, and they definitely live up to the hype. They have crafted an album full of catchy tunes that you can't help but sing along to. People have gone so far as to compare Reggie Youngblood's vocals to Robert Smith of the Cure, and Youngblood helps the comparisons by seemingly putting on a faux British accent (and it doesn't sound half bad). The only thing that slightly bothered me was Youngblood's tendency to refer to himself as a girl, evident in "I'm Not Gonna Teach..." and "Hurricane Jane." The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but that's not to say they aren't good. Some of the subjects have been covered before, but Youngblood brings a new voice to them and I honestly enjoy it. I personally hate it when a band does not live up to its hype, but thankfully Black Kids follow in the steps of Vampire Weekend and not Angels and Airwaves (quite possibly one of the most over-hyped bands ever), and produce an album that's a pleasant dose of indie pop.

9.5/11

Black Kids
Partie Traumatic
Columbia Records
22 July 2008
Reggie Youngblood - Vocals/Guitar
Owen Holmes - Bass
Kevin Snow - Drums
Dawn Watley - Keyboards/Vocals
Ali Youngblood - Keyboards/Vocals