From:

Your email address:

To:

Recipient email address:

Subject:

Message:

Where's the Partie

Black Kids are throwing a party and a fit. On their debut jam Partie Traumatic, these five Jacksonville twentysomethings turn hormonal rage into a celebration of sexual confusion and conquest.

Guitarist/vocalist Reggie Youngblood’s adenoidal whine is ideal for these songs of pent-up frustration. He’s like Gothfather Robert Smith moping over the prom queen, only Black Kids don’t do drone; they herky-jerk like an American Arctic Monkeys, except with dance-floor rhythms and loads of femme background vocals. Internet sensation “I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” distills their snotty charm — pogo rhythms, sly lyrics and a sing-along chorus that’s like the whole group sticking its collective tongue at you.

That aural raspberry’s all in good fun. Youngblood’s just giving voice to his animal urges and disappointments, in that order. When he says it’s “hot as balls” in opener “Hit the Heartbrakes,” he’s not just giving us a weather report. He’s in the midst of a scorching party that’s both traumatic and very exciting.


Partie Traumatic is available today from Columbia Records.