Louis XIV: The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

Herald rating: * * *

Motley Crue kept it simple with the chant of "Girls, girls, girls". Louis XIV would agree that keeping it simple is best, and they'd throw in the cry of "Sex, sex, sex" as well.

This San Diego band - who toured the United States with the Killers - are not Motley Crue in a music sense but definitely in sentiment. "Oh chocolate girl, you're looking like something I want ... but it's the girl in the front with the tight pants I really wanna shake up," sings Jason Hill, all lovely and sleazy-like, on Finding Out True Love Is Blind.

The cover art of a naked woman with her back to us is reminiscent of an adolescent punk pop band, and the subject matter is just as juvenile at times.

But the Stooges-like music and clever naughtiness of the lyrics is why Louis XIV get away with it.

Their debut is a whole lot of dirty fun. Yes, it's mostly an album for the boys, but the sexy vocal delivery and posey instrumental outbreaks will appeal to the girls as well.

The album is unrelenting in its sex and girls vibe and it's not until the last two tracks that the musical tone changes, which it could have done earlier. While this is fun stuff, it will wear thin.

Label: Atlantic