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Black Kids - 'Hurricane Jane'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:11 UK time, Sunday, 15 June 2008

Black KidsI should really stop stereotyping things. One day I'll get in to some sort of trouble with people/places that I've written or said stuff about, before thinking things through properly. Before listening to the latest offering from the band of the moment Black Kids, I assumed that this submission from them would be some sort of musical monster and sweep everything in its path away and into the land of Oz.

Why you ask? Well I saw the track name and made the error of associating hurricanes with something that is fast, furious and would leave me thinking "whooooooa what was that? That was totally incredible and mind-blowing".

Sadly I was wrong about the sound of Hurricane Jane. In actual fact it should have been named 'Gentle Breeze Jane'. The hurricane tag is totally exaggerated. There are enough members of the Black Kids to make a substantial amount of noise. Their last song - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' - was brimming with energy and also had lyrics that helped me remember how to count up to four. Music can be education and fun at the same time.

With the success of their last single, I did have high hopes for this and frankly the disappointment I felt whilst listening to it was on a par to watching my beloved football team crash out the league one play-offs.

It doesn't sound like there is equal involvement fromall five members of the band. Especially the moody looking girls who are on synth duty. Instead of coming up with all sorts of weird squeaks and bleeps from their machines, it just sounds like their holding a key down and passing it off as creative musical output.

That's the problem with artists who have the age old guitar, base and drum setup. With everyone else having keyboards it seems like the in thing to do. In terms of keyboard usage in this song, it sounds like an unwanted annoyance that spoils something good. Like wasps pestering you on the rare day we have a glimpse of sunshine.

Though to be fair, my musical ability ends at smashing the triangle to bits and playing songs from the Jungle Book on a recorder. So I can't complain too much.

Two starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: June 23rd

(Matthew Laidlow)

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