Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
A Gothic Acoustic Tribute to Tool
Doppio Concerto in a Minor Op 102
Amazon.com
The French Kicks’ angular proto-post-art-punk kicks ass. Their debut full-length, One Time Bells, includes 11 smart pop hits. This tight four-piece pulls together intricate, discordant parts from two guitars and three vocalists to form polished rock & roll bursting with energy. Athletic drummer Nick Stumpf is also a talented frontman: his fluid, Britpop, whiney-boy vocals cannot be denied and, no disputing, each song has a beat. Rolling Stone panned the Kicks as derivative of fellow New Yorkers the Strokes. But a far better reference point is that great Austin band Spoon--the Kicks also sing about how mean girls are and how hard love is to jam-packed catchy riffs, spiky beats, and keyboards that actually add to the proceedings. --Jillian Steinberger