Having been given the Best New Music tag in Pitchfork for four songs on their MySpace page, Black Kids' CMJ shows were some of the most anticipated of the week and this show, put on by Brooklyn Vegan at the garish, stripper-themed R Bar on Friday afternoon was Media and Blogger Central. (The free bloody marys went a long way to ignoring this.) Singer Reggie Youngblood was well aware of situation they were in. "I'm sure you've heard the hype... about how good looking we are." The crowd roared.
It was a great way to break the ice, as word of their show from the previous night was bad. Real bad. The only good review was Pitchfork's Marc Hogan... and he was the guy who wrote the 8.4 review of the EP, so it seemed like he was saving face. I don't understand the Cure comparisons (to me, they're more Prefab Sprout or even "Whole of the Moon" era Waterboys, that heart-on-sleeve thing '80s bands did so well) but I gotta admit I love all their songs... you know, all four of them. I expected the worst, which is maybe why I liked them so much.
I'm not saying they killed. They didn't. But they were pretty good for a band who has only been performing live for two months. And fun. They've got the songs. They've got the enthusiasm. The rest will come with time.
MP3: Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
Heart on a Stick, who barely survived a sneak stage-diving attack earlier in the day, also didn't hate them... Ear Farm, Stereogum, and others were there too.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Listening to "Hurricane Jane", I can hear the Prefab Sprout comparisons and I think the resemblance to The Cure is only in the vocals (definitely not the music). I sort of hear "The Whole of the Moon"-era Waterboys, too, (esp. in the big chorus) but it's a bit more synth-driven and less rootsy.
Posted by: Matt Berlyant | Monday, October 22, 2007 at 05:17 PM