The Black Kids Partie Traumatic Review
I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance To 80’s Retro Party
Aug 6, 2008
Jacksonville, Florida’s The Black Kids caused an internet buzz for over a year when they first posted a few tracks on their MySpace page. Those tracks and a handful of live gigs rolled into a major label contract and chart success in the UK.
Working with former Suede guitarist, Bernard Butler, who most recently worked with Duffy on her Rockferry album, another retro influenced record, The Black Kids learned that everything old is new again and lead the way to the dance floor with this fun retro 80’s record.
Retro 80’s Grooves, Racy Lyrics
Mixing racy lyrics (“My girl's been a real whore / Spending her time with Theodore” from “Love Me Already”) with bouncy beats and gender blurring points of view (lead singer Reggie Youngblood often sings from a girl’s perspective), The Black Kids have recorded the greatest 80’s soundtrack to emerge in the 2000’s on debut album Partie Traumatic.
Heavily influenced by The Cure on tracks like “Partie Traumatic” and album opener, “Hit The Heartbreaks”, where Youngblood eerily channels vocals from Robert Smith, The Black Kids don’t stray far from their 80’s influences.
Many of the tracks could be mistaken for early Cure recording, while others burst at the seam with New Waveness influenced by The Human League, and comparative funk from early Prince (“I Wanna Be Your Limousine)”.
The Black Kids Are Making Eyes At You
“Hurricane Jane”, a laid back new-soul groove recaptures the rhythm of ABC and a multitude of one hit wonders from the early half of the 80’s. “I’m Making Eyes At You”, a sleepy come-on track, sounds like Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark shooting come-hither looks at David Bowie, dressed pretty in pink at the prom. While on paper this shouldn’t work, this track instills a sense of nostalgia for kids of the 80’s while still sounding fresh and fun.
“I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)” pays homage to Belle and Sebastian with an electronic-folk tinge, bouncy beeps and lyrics of desperation straight out of Tigermilk. “And you, you're not doing too well / All the blogs are about you, girl / They caught you in the park after dark / giving head to a statue, girl,” Youngblood coos to his ex who still writes him, even though she’s married. In the end he tells her “Oh, baby, you're too much sugar for my sweet tooth.”
The Black Kids Are Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
On UK-charting single “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance”, Youngblood tells his girl how things are going to unfold “You are the girl that I've been dreaming of ever since I was a little girl,” he sings, “He's got two left feet and he bites my moves. I'm not gonna teach him how to dance, dance, dance, dance / The second I do, I know we're gonna be through.” Easily one of the most fun tracks on the album. It has an infectious quality that rattles around your head for hours after, as does most of this solid debut album.
The Black Kids break no new ground on Partie Traumatic but pack one hell of a party into an hour of music. One of the best 80’s British New Wave albums not to come out of England, or the 80’s.
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