Review: Black Kids – Wizard of Ahhhs EP
by malik on Oct.11, 2007, under music
Super infectious song composers and internet buzz band Black Kids have their EP, Wizard of Ahhhs, available for free on their MySpace page. Wait. Black Kids? Who the hell are they? Black Kids are a five member indie rock group from that hotbed of indie rock talent; Jacksonville, Florida. Black Kids takes bits and pieces of The Go! Team, The Arcade Fire, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, and The Cure, and turn it into a collaboration of addictive euphoric pop. Lead singer Reggie Youngblood delivers Morrissey-like lyrics in a Robert Smith-esque vocal delivery, while keyboardists Dawn Watley and Ali Youngblood shout in unison like the cheerleader harmonies of The Go! Team. Owen Holmes’ thumping bass and Kevin Snow’s steady-flow drumming provide an excellent rhythm section. Black Kids sounds a lot like the late 90s/Early 00s band My Favorite if that band eased up on the keyboards and featured their guitars more. The four-song EP showcases their 80s pop stylings, full of synthesizers and sun-filled jangly guitars. It’s really hard not to smile while listening to this EP. Black Kids feature a lot of tongue-in-cheek lyrics about heartbreak. “Hurricane Jane” features the great line, “It’s Friday night and I ain’t got nobody/ What’s the use of making the bed?” “Hit The Heartbrakes” states, “It’s quite all right, you can stay the night/ But please be gone by next morning’s light.” Midway through “”I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)” the song kind of morphs into The Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” blissfully. The standout-on-rotation track is “”I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You.” It’s that great pop song that forces your feet to shift and places an ecstatic smile on your face. Every one of the four song EP can be considered singleworthy. According to their MySpace page, Black Kids have a few shows lined up in NYC during CMJ’s Annual Music Marathon. Hopefully, I’ll be able to score a ticket before the scensters trade their trust funds. Wizard of Ahhhs is not good, it’s freakin’ great.
