What the band has done instead is make a solid, sometimes exciting, always interesting debut album. Nothing too groundbreaking or unique because, like many s kids, Black Kids are '80s kids and just about every sound on Partie Traumatic can be traced back to that era.
Reggie Youngblood's vocals usually channel the Cure's Robert Smith, as do a large percentage of the songs; the perky, cheerleader vocals from Dawn Watley and Ali Youngblood sound like an All-American version of the girls in the Human League, Kevin Snow seems particularly fond of the drum patterns from David Bowie's "Modern Love" for good reason , and the group employs a wide variety of wonderfully cheesy synths. Bernard Butler's production captures the energy of the band but also gives them a slick, very '80s-sounding sheen for good measure.
What the group brings to the table are a couple of things that help them stand out from the '80s bandwagon. One is the goofy, unpredictable lyrics that knock you off guard from the very first a knock-knock joke involving underwear that could be a deal-breaker but somehow works thanks to Youngblood's feckless delivery and remain charmingly off-kilter throughout.
Another thing that makes the record good is the songcraft. Youngblood seemingly can't write a song without a sticky-sweet chorus; every song could be a single.
By the time the album comes to a frenetic, sweat-soaked close, the sound and the songs add up to something pretty impressive. Surely, the Black Kids backlash is probably getting into gear elsewhere and people are readying words like "underwhelming," but really, Partie Traumatic is a very good debut that manages to earn a huge chunk of the hype that was thrown willy-nilly in the band's direction.
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The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like. Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go. Thirty years after its release, My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" remains the craziest album of the 90s. This electric monument in the form of a wall of sound was a product of Kevin Shields' deranged mind.
It turned the history of rock upside down and remains a major source of inspiration for many musicians from all walks of life. Think about it - they're kids. Younger than you and I, but they've got their shit together and made an actual quality punk album.
Though some of the material e. In one of my favorite tracks, " Trendsetter ," the kids show wisdom far beyond their years in denouncing the candy-coated, media-approved forcefeeding "culture" and "style" to the masses:. They say you are a loser if their name's not on your clothes They say that you'll have no friends and that you'll always be alone They will make a lot more money if a bunch of little clones Are free walking advertisements for the companies they own Everywhere 's the average face of the corporate model They're just quirks that get you hooked when they put sugar in your baby bottle They want you to want to be something you can't attain Offer you solutions but they'll really make you pay They tell you what to wear and who you should want to be dating They tell you what to like and all the stuff you should be hating They need kids to feel like crap to help support the corporations It doesn't add up according to my calculations.
Sure, the sentiment is familiar to anyone who's been frustrated with the mainstreaming of society and has, weekly, wished for nothing more than to hunt down at least 9 out of the top 10 Billboard song-artists and send them all to live on a remote desert island near Antarctica, and sure, this kinda song's been done before - but the way they do it sounds real.
It gives me more hope for a generation I'd previously felt sorry for although I'm only 16 so I guess it's m-m-my generation and consigned to the scrap heap of reading Twilight and listening to insert name of seconds-of-fame c-rap artist here. Rock on, little ones. Try getting your wordless tune on the radio today. From to , instrumentals reached the Top 20, while only 30 did from to And since? These standouts are likely remembered only by smooth-jazz aficionados and soundtrack collectors: "Lily Was Here" by David A.
The year-end top 10 songs from to have an average word count of For the s, the figure jumps to In , the average climbed to The top 10 for the week of Feb.
Entirely absent are instrumental phrasings that allow a song and singers to breathe. Guys, take a break. In contrast, the Great American Songbook is a bible of pithiness.
They all have a similar message: "The livin' is easy. Done well , the song sounds like a hazy, slow summer day. In Smith's "Summertime," he recalls hanging out in Philly parks, in Mercedes-Benzes, and at a place called "The Plateau," where everybody goes.
All I picture are the Fresh Prince's summers. They sound fun, but I want my own. Gershwin's lyrical economy makes room for our own dog-day memories. Instrumentals are even easier to personalize. With no lyrics to dictate my emotional response, Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" conforms to my mood. When it's playing on my stereo, just driving around assumes a cinematic brio. In the contemporary radio landscape, instrumental blockbusters like Duane Eddy's "Peter Gunn" simply don't happen anymore.
Considering the cultural impact they've had, that's a shame. The ubiquity of " Green Onions " by Booker T. Long before there were video games, the Tornados' " Telstar " sounded like one in The song, with noises supposedly from the first communication satellite launched months prior , has the spirit of a world giddy about space exploration. Edgar Winter's jam " Frankenstein " and his early version of a keytar and the laid-back sounds of fluegelhornist Chuck Mangione are gold mines for students of the s.
Herbie Hancock gave hip-hop its watershed instrumental in with " Rockit "—the first time many people heard record scratching. Science offers some clues, if not a smoking gun, in the music vs. Neuroscientists believe that the brain uses a different system to store and process music than it does words. Not much research has been done on which affects us more, but an American University study published in the Psychology of Music in gives a slight edge to melody.
When listening to happy or calm songs, subjects found that lyrics dulled the tunes' emotional kick. Words, however, enhanced emotional responses to angry and sad songs.
When researchers mismatched the melodies and lyrics—sad words with happy music, etc. Possible real-world application my theory : Of all the phenomenal singers who have tackled the "Star-Spangled Banner," Jimi Hendrix's tortured, celebratory, and wordless version remains the most emotionally layered.
I understand the appeal of the human voice, and I certainly can't begrudge anyone's joy at singing along in the car unless I'm in it. But why such shabby treatment for the instrumental?
A band is practically faceless with no crooning front man. And it's not as if good instrumental music isn't still getting produced.
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