The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

by

Louis XIV

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All Right.....it finally happened! BritPop is ready to peak with Louis XIV. With the exception of Jack White's White Stripes, there hasn't been a band like this one in more than a decade. Jason Hill and Brian Karscig have resurrected an incredible range of influences while doing original songs with dirtier lyrics and pushing the whole show to a higher plane. Kick-ass riffs, chunking rhythm, snarling in-your-face lyrics......this is what is has always been about and Hill and Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaard are making sure it stays that way. All Hail Rock And Roll!

OK, where do I start? Oh....obviously The lyrics, god...the lyrics!

Little Stacy Q/When she doesn't have anything to do/She comes to my house/She takes off her clothes/She likes to tell this boy what to do/Pledges her allegiance to the United States of ME

Milkshake, milkshake/I love to see you sweat/

Sing me a song/Bang me like the girls in Hong Kong/politics is so much better when there's sex

girl, well you're lookin' like somethin I won/and your little Asian friend/she can come if she wants

I want miss little smart girl with your glasses and all your books/and I want the stupid girl that gives me all those dirty looks/(she says) wind you up and make you crawl to me/tie you up until you call to me

there are lots more....get the CD!

I've been around way too long (I heard Not Fade Away the 1st time AM radio played it) but the list of bands that absolutely nailed me first time out is short.....Louis XIV/Convoy is now one of less than 10. These guys will rank with the Kinks, Marc Bolan/T.Rex, & White Stripes. (How come nobody thinks the "Pledge" sounds like Adam Ant anyway? - surely he isn't completely forgotten!). The greatest thing is that this CD sounds like they found the Kinks' ancient Little Green Amp in the dumpster behind the studio in France and just plugged right in where Ray and Dave left off.

Yes, I've seen them live (Chicago's Metro last week).....they were fantastic with incredible wall of sound rifs chunkin on and on between the best songs. If I closed my eyes I could swear Marc Bolan and Adam Ant had managed to get the Kinks to back them on all these new songs. They do need to work on their set list a bit (Ball of Twine needs to be at the halfway point and the encore needs to be something so the crowd leaves with a sound in their heads....try Illegal Tender or the Pledge or even Louis XIV).

Note that there is a previously recorded album as Convoy...it's not hard to find.

I seldom do this, but there is a really good review (much better than mine) already done on this album if you want to take a second to find it. It's Alexander Laurence's "Get the dirty versions" posted on April 17, 2005

As much as I can't get enough of Kaiser Chiefs, The Libertines, Bloc Party, Razorlight, Frames, Embrace, Interpol, The Killers, Hot Hot Heat, & Kings of Leon.....Jason and Brian with Mark have something greater going here and you can tell on every single track!

This album is absolutely infectious, extremely british, and really enjoyable...the first few listens. After awhile though, I find myself easily bored by a lot of the tunes, with a few exceptions. On top of that, if you're easily offended, especially by derogatory sexual treatment of women, you might want to pass on this one. For me, I dug the album because of the clever arrangements and vocals and deviation from your standard whiny rock. The guys in Louis XIV appear to be having a ridiculously fun time, especially on tunes like "Illegal Tender" where they practically dissolve into laughter.

The main standouts for me include the big single "God Killed The Queen" and the first song I ever heard by the group - the cheeky yet cutesy "Pledge of Allegiance". That's not to say the other tunes aren't worth a listen, overall this is definitely a fun listening experience from start to finish and worth a few plays, but the arrogance and swagger you get from first playing it wears off after awhile.

Recommend for fans of bands like the Kaiser Chiefs or Artic Monkeys - be prepared for a few more gallons of sexually driven lyrics than those groups though!