Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (Universal)
3/5
By: Alex Hibbert
Black Kids' debut Partie Traumatic arrives on a tsunami-proportioned wave of hype that replaces magnetic fields with a bit of call and response, dance floor anthems and, in 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You', a single that stalks you as you walk through your local high street shopping centre or nonchalantly flick through radio channels.
In fact they're almost so impossible to get away from that as Partie Traumatic springs into life, it's like the return of an old friend. 'Hit The Heartbrakes' opening crescendo of synth and rising octaves fulfils all the promises previously made, until Reggie Youngblood conducts maybe the first call and response knock knock joke in music history. Unfortunately the punch line leaves a little to be desired, as 'Heartbrakes' saunters along with some nice harmonies from (sister) Ali Youngblood and Dawn Watley, but it doesn't quite deliver the sucker punch you may have hoped for.
The title track continues in the same vein. It's easy to see Bernard Butler's production touches as we're offered a deluge of layers of synth and driving percussion, but rather than indulging in progression Black Kids seem to be running on the same spot. If next track 'Listen to Your Body' managed to surprise us then all might be forgiven but unfortunately its more of the same, and rhyming 'viable' with 'bible' is almost heresy. There is a nice little bridge, in which Reggie's disembodied voice possesses the girl's female form, but the fact his sister's singing back to him means it becomes a little creepy.
But then it gets good. 'Hurricane Jane' and 'I'm Making Eyes at You' see a more thoughtful side of the band appear, and Black Kids start to resemble the group they promised to be, all youthful vigour and heartbroken angst. Underpinned by keyboards verging on just the right side of twee and a loving gaze so firmly fixed in pastiche you half expect a Brat Pack film to flicker into life, it's surprising that these songs feel fresher than most on the album. Instead of summoning the ghost of past favourites, 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You' is firmly embedded in the here and now, a Go! Team chant mixed with a chorus so freshly stolen from the Brandon Flowers book of catchy choruses that you can almost smell the Pritt Stick. A gripe this isn't though, 'I'm Not Gonna...' is Black Kids' calling card, a tune justifying the hype. Here their ethos becomes a two fingered salute to all the shit that comes with youth condensed into an ill co-ordinated menage-a-trois, and it seems when Black Kids f**k the consequences is when they really shine.
Unfortunately they don't always do it, and as Partie Traumatic goes on, Black Kids seem to be playing it safe, shiny production masking the songs that could have been. 'Love Me Already's cries of 'Love me!' sound more desperate than a band on the up ever should, and final track 'Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)' not only manages to boast a title that would probably make Timbaland wince, but finishes an album that offered so many promises with a puff of smoke rather than a ball of fire.
Partie Traumatic doesn't always fall on its face; hits aside there's enough depth throughout to show Black Kids have got more to offer. Unfortunately they always had to live up to the hype, and though their LP offers enough promise to keep Black Kids riding high until they can prove their critics (including me) wrong, ultimately we've got a reasonable album from what just could have been a classic.
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