French Kicks – Swimming – Vagrant Records – 2008

Right out of the gates you get a good sense of how this album is going to treat you. A lot of reverb guitar and ethereal sort of eerie vocal sounds. It reminds me a lot of the newest Kings of Leon sans southern rock infusion. I also get a bit of the Cure, oddly enough. All together the bass and drums stand out more than anything, even listening on earbuds the healthy dose of bass comes through. I gotta say though that the driving almost choppy drums are my favorite part of this record. Several songs start off with nothing but a bit of drums to get you in the mood to party.

French Kicks – Abandon – From Swimming

These guys have been around for a little while now, and managed to put a really big sound together for this one. Swimming is out on iTunes right now and will be available through Vagrant Records May 20. Rating wise I’d say Swimming gets 3 1/2 out of 5 beards. That’s right, my new rating scale involves beards. Anyway, I’ve never seen these guys live so I am hoping they can throw down a nice show when I go see them at the Granada on 6/4(tix). If nothing else it will be a good chance to get out of the house and listen to some good old fashioned experimental indie pop.

04/15 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
04/24 Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel
04/25 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
04/26 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
04/27 Asheville, NC @ Bald Eagle
05/15 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
05/16 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
05/18 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
05/19 Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp
05/22 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
05/23 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
05/28 Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop
05/29 Chicago, IL @ Double Door
05/30 Madison, WI @ High Noon
05/31 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
06/02 Kansas CIty, MO @ Record Bar
06/04 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre
06/05 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
06/06 Houston, TX @ Walters on Washington
06/07 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
06/09 Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree
06/10 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
06/11 Columbus, OH @ The Basement