October dawns, the dismal autumnal evenings draw dankly in and the discerning thoughts of dedicated music lovers around the globe start to turn to one burning question: which long player will become the Uprock Narratives and Unknown Pleasures album of the year? Here’s a slither of inside information for hepcats everywhere. The odds remain long, but a trip down to your local turf accountants and a guinea or two each-way on Black Kids’ Partie Traumatic might prove salient. Black Kids hail from New York and have concocted a blissfully catchy sound that encapsulates all that remains marvellous about 1980s pop. Frankly, the kitchen sink (bedecked in leg-warmers and deely-boppers and attempting a Rubik’s Cube) has been thrown at this product. There’s a lot of OMD in there, a smattering of Scritti Politti, a dash of Blow Monkeys and, remarkably, a pinch of Hipsway. A tinny Casio-sounding synth underpins most of the tracks and the lead singer’s voice resembles The Cure’s Robert Smith at his navel-gazing best. This would all be utterly pointless if the songs were dire or moribund and happily they aren’t. Here are ten bewitching slices of pop laden with more heavenly hooks and harmonies than one can shake an Amstrad ZX Spectrum at. My favourite track from the LP and, potentially, the whole darned year is Hurricane Jane, a saccharine yet satisfying melodic feast but there are many highlights to salute. Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo) is a jolly beast, all swagger and cute-as-you-like call and response fervour while the energetic and uplifting I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You never fails to force these toes to tap. Heck, it’s all as super, smashing and great as a twenty year old edition of Bullseye though and certainly this year’s must-have feel-good pick even if Partie Traumatic is as contemporary as a Sinclair C-5. I recommend.
No comments:
Post a Comment