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French Kicks’ Y2K Letdown

Posted Sep 27, 2006 by Clarisa Gerlach

Updated Sep 27, 2006 at 11:32 AM

The turn of the century must have proved disappointing for New York City alternative rockers French Kicks.

The title of the band’s latest album, “Two Thousand,” refers to “the feeling you get in the aftermath of something that was supposed to be a big deal but then wasn’t,” Kicks’ singer Nick Stumpf writes in an e-mail. “The sober morning where you are deprived of the distraction of gearing up for the thing and have to admit everything is the same mundane way it always was.”

The album’s air of melancholy matches that somber sentiment. “The songs were written in a trying period of time,” Stumpf writes without elaborating.

Long hours in the studio couldn’t have helped. “We actually got into 15, 16 and 18 [hour days] when we were mixing to make it in time, which is not something we recommend as the best way keep a level head and good perspective,” Stumpf writes. 

The album continues French Kicks’ journey away from its raw beginnings and into an appealing version of alternative pop, one with the rough edges left wonderfully exposed.

French Kicks perform Thursday at The Orpheum, 1902 Avenida Republica de Cuba (14th Street), Tampa; Little Ones, Summerbirds in the Cellar and Modern also are on the bill; admission is $9 and showtime is 9 p.m.; call (813) 248-9500.