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The rest of the remarkably memorable Kicks is similarly raw, tight, and funky.
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UncutThe group conjure a brilliantly ludicrous trash-pop poetry, hymning girls with gammy eyes on night buses--all much more seedily evocative and enjoyable than erstwhile Yummy Fur comrades, Franz Ferdinand. [May 2009, p.77]
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Kicks certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it has a whole lotta fun copying it.
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Their music is often thrilling and endlessly hummable.
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Kicks is less of a cocky triumph, but it still cements 1990s’ position as the torchbearers for no-nonsense Brit-pop.
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Line-up changes (guitarist Jamie McMorrow was replaced by V-Twin man Dino Bardot) have resulted in a beefier, bouncier, more playful sound, with vocals shared more evenly and harmonies abounding.
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MojoKicks may take its leads from The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Orange Juice but these songs about Glasgow and girls still manage to invest the skinny-tie shuffle with some fresh contemporary verve. [Apr 2009, p.98]
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Q Magazine1990s show more ambition on the follow-up. [May 2009, p.107]
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Under The RadarThey retain much of the glam rock frivolity and bombast of their debut, with a diaphanous bubblegum pop sheen tacked on courtesy of producer Bernard Butler. [Spring 2009, p.76]
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1990s have not made a bad album, but like the decade itself Kicks never lives up to its promise and contains too many derivative and unmemorable moments.
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Kicks is forgettable fare.
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The riffs have gotten sharper and more jagged as the punch lines have grown duller and less imaginative. Minus his smart-alecky cheek, it's increasingly difficult for McKeown to hold your interest.
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'I Don't Even Know What Time It Is' sums up the whole record, stranded between sublime '80s guitar-pop and the more recent smarminess of Arctic Monkeys and Art Brut.
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This is the problem that bands face when they go from the thrill of making the first record to the grind of having to produce something equal or better than their debut. Not too many groups can pull it off; add the 1990s to the long list of bands who have failed.
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Kicks is not the follow-up that "Cookies" deserved, but its handful of winning standout tracks also suggests that its predecessor wasn't simply a fluke.
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The album is also horribly sequenced, pushing its best tracks down after a morass of prettier, more insipid melodies had fluffed you.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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Jul 3, 2012
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CarlosUMay 12, 2009Superb effort!
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RalphKApr 7, 2009