speed of dark

I had been thinking of waiting to get the French Kicks' new album Swimming until it came out on CD May 1, but I changed my mind and bought the download from iTunes, and I'm glad I did. Their 2006 CD Two Thousand is a hard album to top, but the Kicks may have managed to do it. Swimming is filled with stunners that present more blended harmonies than before, all underlaid with solid rhythms by drummer Aaron Thurston. You'll notice during this review that I never say the Kicks sound like someone else--because they don't.

The Kicks have been together as a band for 10 years, but it was only in 2003 while writing and recording The Trial of the Century (released in 2004) that singer/keyboardist Nick Stumpf and guitarist Josh Wise began to craft the sound that is fully realized on Swimming. The gorgeous melodies and smooth, layered vocals are better than ever here. This is music to close your eyes and melt into.

In addition to Nick's brother bassist Lawrence Stumpf, for live shows the Kicks have added multi-instrumentalist Kush El Amin to assist with extra percussion, second guitar, and a lot of keyboards.

The single "Abandon" is the first track of the dozen, with a strong, distinctive guitar riff that sets the framework for the delicious multilayered vocals to slide into. Next is "Over the World" with its snappy percussion, followed by one of my favorites, "Carried Away" --my only complaint is that it's too short! The Kicks seem to know exactly how to hypnotize with repetition without overdoing the effect.

Please stop me when you see I'm off again
It's not enough to say it once
I was carried away
I was carried away
I was carried away
And I've been carried away before

"Said So What" asks sweetly, "Why, tell me why? I don't know." And then, my very favorite, "Atlanta." That went straight to my Favorites of 2008 folder. I do not know how Josh Wise makes that mandolin sound with the guitar. You can find it also on "Cloche" on Two Thousand; I would say that "Cloche" is a precursor to what the Kicks have done here on Swimming. On "Atlanta" the drums and guitar build a tension that is then cooled by those heavenly vocals and a mesmerizing synthesizer. I don't even know what they're saying; it's just incredibly beautiful, with eddies and undercurrents of vocals and synth weaving around each other.

"Love In the Ruins" starts off in a different direction with acoustic plucking, but it is nearly equal in beauty to "Atlanta." "With the Fishes" is another smooth glider, but the following song, "The Way You Arrive" has bite underneath the soaring vocals.

"All Our Weekends" glows like a sunset and proposes:
Why don't we take all our weekends in the fall, at the same time...
The Kicks make that sound like a feasible idea before dancing cheek-to-cheek with your ears on "Sex Tourists." "This Could Go Wrong" lets you down easy, with those incredible harmonies contrasting with sort of a jungle-drum pounding.

I just love this album, and I recommend it highly. I'll probably get the physical CD too when it comes out.


Atlanta from Swimming (2008)
Go On from Two Thousand (2006)

MySpace | Website | Label: Vagrant Records
Buy at iTunes now, and everywhere else on May 1



Show Schedule:
The French Kicks are touring all over the continental U.S. this summer, so check their MySpace for dates and venues. We'll be seeing them in Los Angeles at the Echo with The Weather Underground and Junior Panthers on May 22.