Black Kids

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Black Kids
Black Kids performing live at MTV UK in January 2008
Black Kids performing live at MTV UK in January 2008
Background information
Origin Jacksonville, Florida
Genre(s) Indie pop
Years active 2006–present
Label(s) Columbia Records (US)
Almost Gold Recordings (UK)
Website http://www.blackkidsmusic.com
Members
Owen Holmes
Kevin Snow
Dawn Watley
Ali Youngblood
Reggie Youngblood

Black Kids are an American indie pop band who formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 2006. Rolling Stone called them one of ten "Artists to Watch" in 2008[1] and were also included in the BBC Top 10 Sound of 2008 poll.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Black Kids formed in March 2006. The band consists of Reggie Youngblood on guitar and vocals, Owen Holmes on bass guitar, Kevin Snow on drums, Dawn Watley on keyboards and vocals, and Reggie's sister Ali Youngblood also on keyboards and vocals. They started out by playing shows in Jacksonville, often as a supporting act for more well-known indie bands coming through town.

The band received national attention after a breakout performance at the Athens Popfest in Athens, Georgia on August 11, 2007, which led to a sudden flurry of coverage in the music press, including NME,[3] Vice,[4] The Guardian,[5] and The Village Voice[6]. The same month, Black Kids' demo EP, Wizard of Ahhhs, was released via free download on their MySpace page. The EP received a favorable review of 8.4 out of 10 from Pitchfork Media, including a "Best New Music" commendation.[7] In September, Black Kids began working with Quest Management,[8] the company that manages Björk and Arcade Fire.[9] At this time they also launched their official website[1], where they offered their EP as a free download for several months.

Black Kids participated in the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City in October,[10] earning the band exposure in The New York Times[11] and USA Today.[12] In December the band travelled to London for a brief tour.[13] Rolling Stone called them one of ten "Artists to Watch" in 2008[1] and the band was also included in the BBC Sound of 2008 poll.[2]

Black Kids toured the United Kingdom in early 2008, including the Vice Live Tour with Friendly Fires and Ipso Facto, a Sons and Daughters tour, and a Kate Nash tour.[14] They performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in April[15] and Radio 1's Big Weekend in May[2]. They are also slated to appear at T in the Park in Scotland[16] and Camp Bestival in England in July.[17] In April and May, Black Kids toured the United States as an opening act for Cut Copy. They are currently scheduled for a headlining European tour from June to August.

In February, Pitchfork Media reported that the Black Kids had signed a recording contract with Almost Gold Recordings for territories outside of North America.[18] On May 1, news broke that Black Kids had signed with Columbia Records in the U.S.[19] While in the UK they recorded their debut album, Partie Traumatic, with producer Bernard Butler, former guitarist of Suede. Their first single, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You", was released in the UK on April 7 and debuted at #11 on the UK Singles Chart. The band performed the song on the first ever fully live broadcast of Later... with Jools Holland on April 1.[20] Their second single, "Hurricane Jane", is scheduled for UK release on June 23. On May 30th they performed the track live on BBC's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. The album Partie Traumatic is set to be released on July 7 in the UK and July 22 in the US.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Title
2008 Partie Traumatic
  • July 7 UK, July 22 USA, August 22 GER

[edit] EPs

Year Title
2007 Wizard of Ahhhs

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
UK
2008 "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You"
11
 Partie Traumatic
"Hurricane Jane"
  • To be released June 2008 (UK)
  • Formats: Two 7" vinyls, CD single, digital download
TBA

[edit] B-sides

Year Title A-side
2008 "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"(Sophie B. Hawkins) "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You"
"You Turn Me On"(Beat Happening)
"I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You (The Twelves Remix)"
"I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You (The Twelves Remix - Dub Version)"
"You Only Call Me When You're Crying" "Hurricane Jane"
"Power in the Blood"
"Hurricane Jane (The Cansecos Remix)"

[edit] Music videos

Year Title Director(s)
2008 "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" Chris Boyle
"Hurricane Jane" Rozan & Schmeltz

[edit] Television appearances

  • "Hit the Heartbrakes", "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You", and "Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo)" on MTV UK's Spanking New Sessions in February 2008. [3]
  • "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" on the first ever fully live broadcast of BBC's Later... with Jools Holland on April 1, 2008[20].
  • "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" and "Hurricane Jane" on Later... with Jools Holland on April 4, 2008.
  • "Hurricane Jane" on BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on May 30, 2008. [4]

[edit] Personnel

  • Owen Holmes – bass guitar
  • Kevin Snow – drums
  • Dawn Watley – keyboards and vocals
  • Ali Youngblood – keyboards and vocals
  • Reggie Youngblood – guitar and vocals

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Hoard, Christian (November 14 2007). Artist to Watch: Black Kids. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
  2. ^ a b BBC (January 4 2008). Sound of 2008: The Top 10. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  3. ^ Miller, Alex (September 2 2007). Black Kids Are Amazing. NME. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  4. ^ Vice (September 19 2007). Interview: Black Kids. Vice Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  5. ^ Lester, Paul (September 26 2007). New band of the day No. 191: Black Kids. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  6. ^ Bowers, William (October 9 2007). Provincializm: Siblings Gonna Work It Out. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  7. ^ Hogan, Marc (October 5, 2007). Black Kids: Wizard of Ahhs EP: Pitchfork Record Review. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  8. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (October 19 2007). Update: Buzz Band Black Kids Inks Management Deal. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
  9. ^ Maher, Dave (October 17 2007). Black Kids Have a Manager, Gigs, No Label Yet. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
  10. ^ Hogan, Marc (October 19 2007). CMJ: Thursday (Marc Hogan). Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
  11. ^ Parales, Jon (October 22, 2007). Play Well, and May the Blog Buzz Be With You. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
  12. ^ Matheson, Whitney (October 22 2007). CMJ lessons: Ten bands to hear today. USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
  13. ^ Solarski, Matthew (November 9 2007). Black Kids Add Dates. Pitchfork. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  14. ^ Black Kids (January 8 2008). **SONS & DAUGHTERS TOUR + KATE NASH TOUR**. Black Kids Myspace. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  15. ^ Press Release (January 21 2008). Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Announces Lineup. Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.
  16. ^ Press Release (February 15 2008). T Lineup Announced. T in the Park. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  17. ^ NME (February 5 2008). Camp Bestival add more acts to lineup. NME. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  18. ^ Mike White (February 5 2008). Black Kids Sign to Almost Gold Outside North America. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  19. ^ Dave Maher (May 1 2008). Black Kids Sign to Columbia for U.S., Reveal LP Details. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  20. ^ a b BBC (April 1 2008). Later with Jools Holland - Black Kids. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.

[edit] External links