This planet is static

Okay, did I miss an important memo or something?

At what point did disco become cool?

I was tempted to use the word 'again' in that question, but I'm not entirely sure it ever was. Not that I'm old enough to have lived through it the first time. Maybe it was. Maybe all that tight spandex and glitter balls was a high point in the cultural evolution of the human race. Maybe.

The reason I ask, is that when listening to this session by Black Kids, I couldn't help but notice the disco influence running under the songs. And it made me think how prevalent that hi-hat beat and choppy guitar sound is becoming in 2008. I guess every year throws up a particular sound with various watered down band wagon jumpers following suit. But the number of singles coming from faceless, drainpipe jean clad indie clones all churning out the same tsht-tsht sound is getting out of control. Luckily, on the evidence of the songs I've heard, Black Kids don't quite fall into that category.

But apparently, they do fall into the category of Prince fans, citing the purple squiggle as a big influence on their music. Which surprises me. Granted, I'm not particularly au fait with the output of the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince. So I'm probably not in the best position to be judging these things. But if that is true, they've hidden it pretty well. To my ears at least.

What also surprised me about this session, was how little the vocals grated on me. Normally yelping shouty bits in songs treads a very fine line between appealing and irritating. A line which it's very easy to cross. Some bands do it more than others and it's usually most apparent in a live performance. A place where studio trickery dies and the short comings of the vocals are made apparent. But no. If anything the Black Kids play it down and the vocals seem stronger than the cartoon yelping of the studio tracks. It probably helps that the girly schoolyard chants are kept a little further back in the mix. It also helps that they’ve got a natty way with a great tune and that in 'I’m Not Gonna Teach...' have produced one of the songs of the year so far.

The debut album 'Partie Traumatic' is released on July 7th. It's being produced by Bernard Butler and will ultimately prove whether or not Black Kids are more than the hype. On the evidence of this session, I think they may just be.

Black Kids – partie traumatic (live session version)

Black Kids – look at me when I rock with you (live session version)

Black Kids – I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance (live session version)

mp3 / music / black kids