Matt & Kim, The Cool Kids @ Le Poisson Rouge, Sept. 16, 2008
I don't know why it's taken me all day to post this, because it was an awesome show. Green Label Sound, a Mountain Dew sponsored label that offers free digital downloads, hosted a party last night with Matt & Kim and The Cool Kids. Flosstradamus was there too, but I didn't stick around for that because ... I was tired.
Matt & Kim, rocking out. (via)
The Cool Kids came out first, bursting with youthful energy. I saw them last year at CMJ, and they have only gotten better since then. They rap over fat retro beats and a live DJ scratching giving the whole performance an old school feel. These kids are having fun and it is contagious. I also liked that the two of them chant just off tune from each other, giving their voices kind of a modulated robot effect.
And, though I just said they were old school, they also reminded me a lot of Madvillian, both in their proficiency and commitment to silliness.
Their set is a blur as they fly from song, and is over before I know it.
M&K after the jump...
I had never seen a Matt & Kim show before last night, and now I am really regretting it. They're as fun as Cool Kids, with a completely different sound: They punk out on a lo-fi drum kit and synth while beaming smiles made of sunshine at the crowd.
First of all, they come out and start the show by playing the "brown note", then break into a little "Final Countdown." When they kick off their set for real, I notice that their sound is really more hardcore than I thought. Like, if Minor Threat geeked out and happied up, this is who they'd be.
And you can't underplay the band's exuberance. Matt and Kim (who are a couple, BTW) are both so happy, you're happy just to be in their presence. More than the music, their appeal is the relentless positivity they radiate. They're like overexcited, lovely puppies. Somehow, that genuineness comes through their music, making their glitch-pop authentically exiting to listen to as well.
Also, there was crowd surfing. And not just one person — not even one at a time. I haven't seen that since the late '90s.
It was a great time. One of the best concerts I've seen this year so far.
—eh
