Black Kids - Look At Me [When I Rock Wichoo] (Universal)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
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In an accelerated music industry you don't get given too many chances to make it big. Debut albums come and go and sometimes follow-ups get shelved before they're completed. It's all about the quick impression and with the internet breaking down barriers between artist and fan things need to connect quickly. Still, it was somewhat surprising when Black Kids started to see the beginnings of what looked like a blog backlash before they'd even released debut album Partie Traumatic. That's a pretty hasty turnaround.
It might have had something to do with the fact that early demos of songs such as debut single 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance' sounded fresh and raw, showing a band having fun, whilst the Bernard Butler-produced studio version tried it's hardest to bury all that beneath an expensive sheen. Perhaps it all goes to show that if you let the cat out of the bag too early, you're going to have to face the consequences if said cat turns out to be a giraffe when the bag is opened second time around.
'Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)' is their third single and is probably hoping to do better then the top 30 placing of 'Hurricane Jane' (remember, they've not much time left). For the most part it's a roaring success, all seventies synths, processed drums and nonsense lyrics; "I say baby/ You say bump that/ All you want to hear is Gabriel's trumpet". It's fun and frothy and will go down a storm at many a youth club, but it's also forgettable and slightly irritating on repeated listen. All that arch eyebrow raising and knowing winks is beginning to get on my proverbials, and while singer Reggie Youngblood knows his way around a good tune his somewhat nasal vocals make my teeth ache.
With the backlash already petering out, having been replaced with indifference, it might be a good time for Black Kids to start recording their follow-up album. This time though, I'd advise them to keep the demos to themselves, it's more of a pleasant surprise that way. More haste, less speed as they say.
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