Flak Magazine: Review of French Kicks' One Time Bells, 06-10-02

We're supposedly in the midst of a back-to-basics garage/punk revival that may leave a significant and lasting dent in mainstream radio. Brooklyn's French Kicks have sometimes been placed as dark horses in the retro-rock sweepstakes, but the band, as represented on their 2000 Young Lawyer EP, defied the revivalist tag. Injecting a loose, joyous, anything-goes spirit into angular yet poppy post-punk, their approach, although not unprecedented, was also clearly not backward-gazing.

While using a lot of the same components — tight interplay between Josh Wise's chunky, attack-heavy keyboards and Matt Stinchcomb's chiming, occasionally dissonant guitar and backing vocals that border on blue-eyed soul — the Kicks have developed songwriting maturity and focus on One Time Bells, their first full-length. But in trade, much of the unbridled energy that made them special has dissipated.

While there are no real dead spots, a midtempo malaise falls over the otherwise strong batch of songs. The lethargic delivery on "Crying Just For Show" might help communicate the narrator's weariness at a drama-filled relationship, but when played against a repetitive guitar figure, it makes things drag. Bells' subdued second half drags a bit, even as the band achieves a spacey, atmospheric feel on such highlights as "Trying Whining" and "Where We Went Off." In comparison, upbeat tunes like "Wrong Side" and "1985" really pump a little vitality into the affair.

At least when the Kicks do nod toward the past, they make wise choices. Drummer/singer Nick Stumpf elevates the mellow "Close To Modern" by trying out a falsetto evocative of His Purple Badness, and "Right In Time" benefits from a catchy bassline nicked from the Cure's "Close To Me."

Although they've obviously progressed artistically, the French Kicks somehow have produced a record less than the sum of its parts. Unfortunate track sequence alone may be to blame. With a little of the spunk of the past, the strides they've made could allow them to jell into a combo potent enough to make people forget about the revival du jour.

— Wayne Lewis (capsighs@pacbell.net)