Black Kids - 'Partie Traumatic' (Almost Gold) Released 07/07/08

In John Nivens' highly recommended novel ‘Kill You Friends’ he describes an A&R man's favourite music as “Anything that’s profitable”. Artistic merit counts for nothing. What the men with the expenses accounts and huge salaries care about is shifting units and making money at an eye wateringly fast speed. As long as it suits a demographic and keeps them in coke and hookers they love it. Black Kids, through no fault of their own are just another victim of conveyor belt indie.

When Black Kids deliciously lo-fi demo ‘Wizard of Ahhs’ EP emerged in mid- late 2007 it charmed the underground and blog scene with sunny slices of indie pop melancholia, half Robert Smith introspection, half indie disco staples. A thousand ‘Ones To Watch’ polls later and the bona fide smash ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’ was unleashed and Black Kids had ‘made it’. Fellow highly tipped bands like Foals, MGMT and Vampire Weekend released their albums early allowing them to seep into the peoples minds and hearts however Black Kids have been locked away with Duffy co-hort and ex- Suede man Bernard Butler smoothing edges and flicking countless FM Radio switches making ‘Partie Traumatic’.

The album unravels over ten tracks taking in countless drunken fumbles, late night rejections and teenage angst over 80’s infused synths and catchy melodies. The whole of the aforementioned EP has been re-recorded with a little lass crackle and a whole lot more sparkle, in all four cases detracting from the originals naïve charm. Quite simply ‘Partie Traumatic’ is over-produced. Brendan Butlers clear love of big pop and expensive clean sonics works on the more complex Cajun Dance Party and even better on the likes of ‘Warwick Avenue’ by Duffy but scuzzy guitar bands like Black Kids never benefit from the high end production values. The clarity and distance Butler provides makes the like of ‘Hurricane Jane’ and ‘Hit The Heartbrakes’ seem confident yet cold. Where the listener should be feeling warm and in tune with the naïve sentiments of the songs lyrical content we are pushed away by a Perspex shield of pro tools.

It’s not Black Kids fault, in different hands this LP could have had a slacker charm to make Weezer realise their time is truly up, however in the world of major labels (In this case Columbia) giving a band time to grow and develop is simply not an option. Massive posters, TV campaigns, expensive artwork, big name producers and headline tours don’t pay for themselves and too much has been invested in Black Kids for them to turn in a slow burning sleeper hit, they need results straight away. It’s a real shame as the likes of ‘Listen To Your Body Tonight’ and the sure to be huge ‘Look At Me’ are really really good fun.

Operator Please, The Rakes, Boy Kill Boy, Milburn, Good Shoes, Dogs, The Departure, The Others we could go on. The musical waste land is littered with here today gone tomorrow bands and sadly Black Kids look set to join the pile. Shame.