Black Kids are the most recent addition to the Columbia Records roster, following a massive bidding war to sign these guys. I'm pretty sure Columbia is a small start-up label. Anyway, it seems that everyone wanted a piece of this Jacksonville, Florida band that takes familiar 80's synth retro rock and flips it on its ear.

Black Kids rock delightfully catchy songs that sound like the birth of MTV (think Simple Minds) meets lo-fi garage (The Ponys) meets dance-pop (Abba?) meets twee (The Go! Team) meets a high school sock-hop (which is what The Ramones were always about anyway). Weird, right?

The three guys and two girls in Black Kids combine to write giddy melodies and harmonies (often sung into what sounds like a tin can) with swirling synth hooks. This is definitely optimistic music (the stuff that "twees" are made of), but it's never nauseating. There's a nice bit of Richard Hell's swagger throughout Black Kid's repertoire, giving these toe-tapping tunes a swift punk-rock kick in the ass. And their song "I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" was one of my favorite songs of 2007.

By the way, another reason to like these guys, their debut EP that started the giddy bidding battle (with only 4 songs!) has one of the most perfect album titles ever -The Wizard of Ahhhs.

BUY TICKETS TO SEE BLACK KIDS AT STUDIO B!

BUY TICKETS TO SEE BLACK KIDS AT BOWERY BALLROOM!

Black Kids play Studio B, on Tuesday, May 13th, and Bowery Ballroom, on Sunday, May 18th.