“Guilt By Association“
from the album Slick Dogs and Ponies
2008
iTunes
With their debut album, San Diego rockers Louis XIV gained more attention for their provocative album cover and sleazy lyrical double-entendres than they did for their music. Frontman Jason Hill tones down the overt and sometimes silly sexuality of the debut — a little — and brings the focus more tightly onto the tunes themselves. Jittery string arrangements augment the alt-funk groove of tracks like ”Guilt By Association’‘ and ”Misguided Sheep.” The breathy ”Stalker” injects a convincing dose of trip-hop atmospherics, conjuring a seductive vibe without the band’s usual wink of irony. And the pained, surprisingly self-reflective ”Hopesick” is a dramatic epic that deserves favorable comparisons to the Afghan Whigs, the ’90s alt-soul outfit whose influence casts a long shadow over Louis XIV. Hill’s pinched, nasally whine is still a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, but this is clearly a band moving in the right direction.