Mates Of State And Black Kids To Play Two Night Stand At The Independent

Apparently (hopefully) somewhat chastened by their Fillmore->GAMH downsizing last fall, the Black Kids have this time decided to embark on a co-headlining tour with the always loveable husband-wife team of Mates Of State. The two bands will be playing two nights at the Independent on April 20th and 21st, switching their playing order between the two. The tour goes throughout April, and manages to catch both coasts, and even quite a few spots in between. For two bands that write such catchy tunage, we can't really see how you'd go wrong.

Tickets go on-sale this Sunday at 10 AM.

Mates Of State And Black Kids, Spring 2009 Dates:
Apr 2 2009 Richmond, VA The National
Apr 4 2009 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Apr 5 2009 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Apr 6 2009 NY, NY Webster Hall
Apr 7 2009 Boston, MA House of Blues
Apr 9 2009 Montreal, QC Cabaret Musee Juste Pour Rire
Apr 10 2009 Toronto, ON Phoenix Theatre
Apr 11 2009 Chicago, IL Metro
Apr 12 2009 MInneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
Apr 13 2009 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
Apr 15 2009 Denver, CO Oriental Theatre
Apr 17 2009 Seattle, WA Neumos
Apr 18 2009 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
Apr 19 2009 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
Apr 20 2009 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Apr 21 2009 San Francisco, CA The Independent
Apr 23 2009 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
Apr 24 2009 Pomona, CA The Glass House
Apr 25 2009 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
Apr 27 2009 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre
Apr 28 2009 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
Apr 29 2009 Houston, TX Warehouse Live

Black Kids Show Moves From The Fillmore To GAMH

We're not sure what this says about the Black Kids hype, but it can't be good: The show scheduled for this coming Monday has been moved from The Fillmore to the Great American Music Hall. If you're a fan of the band, this is probably great news: smaller venue, more intimate show. That being said, for a band the venue-downsizing isn't a message of things going well. We were really psyched for this record, and then it dropped and unfortunately suffered a Killers-like major label castration. The sounds are much cleaner, the arrangements are much slicker, and much of the charm that was on the Wizard of Ahhs EP was lost in the process. There has also be a lot of talk about the band not really handling themselves well in a live setting. Not good kids, not good.

Black Kids To Play Fillmore In October

Over at Brooklyn Vegan there's a pretty big post as to the "launch" festivities surrounding the Black Kids major label debut. Included in said festivities is a tour that culminates in San Francisco at The Fillmore on October 13th. No word about ticket on-sale's yet, so keep your eyes open.

In other news the "official" video (along with newly recorded version of the song) for "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Girlfriend How To Dance With You" has been utubed (see below). To our ears the audio mix is slower and cleaner than the original EP version (similar to the Killers when they transitioned from self-released EP->major label), while the video is some sort of "color fight" between some 18th century aristocrats. Hmm. We'll have to listen to the whole album when it drops in two weeks.

(Sorta) New Music: Black Kids

We here at H.A.D. have been digging on Black Kids' free EP for the last week or two, which until recently you could get for free at their website. Apparently the hype for this Florida band has reached that fever pitch where "free download" becomes "buy the single". We're a little skeptical of such maneuvers (we're looking at you too, Vampire Weekend), but all good bands must be signed by record companies, and so out the door go the free mp3s.

That being said, Black Kids are indeed a good band. The 4 track EP Wizard Of Ahhs is an awesome dose of psuedo-new-wave dance music, with immediately brings to mind The Cure. Well, at least if Robert Smith weren't completely miserable and whiny all the time, which is kind of impossible. That's what we like about Black Kids, though: they manage to capture a fair bit of passion and angst, while at the same time keeping the fun and danceability at a maximum. Crank the volume, and enjoy yourself some pop musics.

Black Kids are playing Coachella on April 25th, and then coming up to SF for a date at Mezzanine on the 26th. Seeing as how we're not big Dark Side Of The Moon fans, we'll be catching them here, thanks.

mp3: Hit The Heartbreaks
stream: Black Kids MySpace Page