ACL: Louis XIV Tone Down the Sex, Turn Up the Blues
In the shade of the Austin Ventures stage, California's Louis XIV took to the stage and a medium-sized crowd got up from grassy seats anticipating some dirty, sexy rock n' roll.
For the sake of full disclosure, we saw Louis XIV three years ago, just before the release of their first full-length album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept. Then, the band's distorted sound and cocky stage presence made their laughably sex-packed lyrics work. At ACL, the band's performance was far more straight-laced and lacked the swagger that made Louis XIV stand out from the hundreds of other hip rockers in tight-fitting dress attire. Absent were lead-singer Jason Hill's kinky falsetto and staccato shotgun blasts of distorted guitar. Now, Hill seems to have lost some of the punch he once delivered on the microphone. Perhaps too many nights of high-pitched squealing have taken their toll on his vocal cords. While it was interesting hearing the band's new take on old material, any echoes of misogynistic rock of old were buried under 30-second guitar solos and an overall more polished sound. Now more bluesy than sleazy, Louis XIV's live show is still entertaining but may come as a letdown for long-time listeners. --Eric Pulsifer
