Louis XIV is an American
rock band from
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. The band has released four
EPs between 2003 and 2007, and three
albums
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records col ...
between 2003 and 2008, the latter two of which were distributed by
Atlantic Records. The band broke up in 2009, but in 2013, in an interview with ''The Reno Dispatch'',
Jason Hill confirmed that the band had decided to reunite.
Formation (2003-2004)
Lead singer and guitarist
Jason Hill, guitarist
Brian Karscig
Brian Joseph Karscig is a musician, songwriter, and record producer, but is mostly recognized as the co-singer/guitarist/songwriter for the American rock band Louis XIV signed to Atlantic Records. He also is the singer/guitarist/songwriter of ...
, and drummer Mark Maigaard formed the group in April 2003, while living in
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. Bassist James Armbrust joined soon after.
''
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
'', the band's first album, was recorded in the spring of 2003 in a basement in the Latin district in Paris on a 16-track tape machine. It was released in November 2003 through Pineapple Recording Group, a label started by Hill and Karscig. The album sold over 22,000 copies in the first six months after release, despite being sold only at shows, on the band's website, and in some independent record stores. The album became popular in the UK in 2004, after the band performed on the
Jonathan Ross television show one week after
Oasis. The band also performed on the
Mary Anne Hobbs show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. They were embraced by
Distillers frontwoman
Brody Dalle
Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson; 1 January 1979) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. She began playing music in her adolescence and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18, where she founded the punk rock band The D ...
and
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...
frontman
Josh Homme at the 2004
NME Awards
The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...
.
''Illegal Tender EP'' and ''The Best Little Secrets Are Kept'' (2005-2007)
The band performed in the 2005
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...
festival. In reviews after the festival they were named "the best band of the festival. Hill recorded and released a music video for the instrumental song "The Hunt".
Independent record label
Stolen Transmission
Stolen Transmission was an American independent record label founded in 2005 by Sarah Lewitinn and Rob Stevenson. They have released albums from well-known artists such as Innerpartysystem, Monty Are I, and Schoolyard Heroes.
History
The label ...
released a three-song CD featuring the songs "Hey Teacher" and "God Killed the Queen". After the band returned to
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, local radio stations, including
XETRA-FM
XETRA-FM (91.1 MHz), branded as 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM, is an English-language radio station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It airs an alternative rock radio format. The studios and offices are on Cornerstone Cour ...
in San Diego, began playing an unreleased song from the band's website, "Finding out True love is Blind". This airplay led to the release of two simultaneous limited EPs, ''Pink'' and ''Blue''. Eight major radio stations on the West Coast then named the single a top five song, leading to the band signing to
Atlantic Records in late 2004.
The band released a self-produced
EP entitled ''
Illegal Tender'' in January 2005, followed in March by their second full-length album, ''
The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
''The Best Little Secrets Are Kept'' is the second album by Louis XIV. It was released on March 21, 2005 (see 2005 in music) internationally and a day later in the United States. The album is named after a line from their song "Pledge of Allegianc ...
'', produced by Hill. The album depicts a naked woman with the song titles written on her back. A censored version of the cover was released in
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, with a portion of the woman's body cropped off. The album spawned two singles, "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" and "God Killed the Queen".
In 2005 ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' called the band "music to flunk rehab to", and ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' and
MTV both named it as one of their top ten bands to watch. The music video for "Pledge of Allegiance", again filmed by Hill, featured "The Best Little Secrets" cover model undressing in front of a camera. The music video for "Paper Doll" was released exclusively on the
alt porn website
Suicide Girls
SuicideGirls is an online community-based website that revolves around pin-up photography sets of models known as the Suicide Girls.
The website was founded in 2001 by Selena Mooney ("Missy Suicide") and Sean Suhl ("Spooky").
Most of the site ...
. The video, featuring various models in different stages of undress, was directed by alt-porn pioneer
Eon McKai.
In 2007
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
asked the band to play their BlackBall charity event for
AIDS in Africa
HIV/AIDS originated in Africa in the early 20th century and is a major public health concern and cause of death in many African countries. AIDS rates vary significantly between countries, though the majority of cases are concentrated in Southern ...
. Bowie cited Louis XIV as one of his favorite new bands in numerous
Conde Nast
Conde may refer to:
Places
United States
* Conde, South Dakota, a city
France
* Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune
Linguistic
''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus'').
It may refer to:
* Count ...
publications. Hill and Karscig also sang on three songs on
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
' 2006 album ''
Sam's Town
''Sam's Town'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Killers. It was released on September 27, 2006, by Island Records. Regarding the album, frontman Brandon Flowers noted that he "wanted to create an album that captured, chron ...
''. In September 2007 violinist
Ray Suen
Ray Suen (born July 5, 1985) is an American musician based in Los Angeles, California, best known for his work with Childish Gambino, Lorde and Mariachi El Bronx.
Career
Raised in San Diego, California and classically trained, Suen began playi ...
joined Louis XIV as a touring member. The band toured
Australia,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and the USA with The Killers and played several AIDS in Africa charity events. The same year, two of Louis XIV's tracks, the titular "Louis XIV" and "Finding Out True Love Is Blind", were used as backing tracks on
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...
's stand-up DVD ''Comedian''.
The band's next EP, ''
The Distances from Everyone to You'', was released through the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on September 11, 2007. The EP contains the band's cover version of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's ''
Flash Gordon''
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
, later used for the
Sci Fi Channel
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
's new ''
Flash Gordon'' television series.
''Slick Dogs and Ponies'' and breakup (2008-2009)
Louis XIV toured with the Killers between February and April 2009. After a show in Manchester at the
O2 Apollo Manchester
The O2 Apollo Manchester (known locally as The Apollo and formerly Manchester Apollo) is a concert venue in Ardwick Green, Manchester, England. It is a Grade II listed building, with a capacity of 3,500 (2,514 standing, 986 seats).
History
The ...
, the Manchester Tribune called the band "criminally overlooked". They released their third album ''
Slick Dogs and Ponies
Slick Dogs and Ponies is the third studio album from American garage rock band, Louis XIV (band), Louis XIV. Its release date was January 29, 2008.
The album was leaked on torrent networks on January 18, 2008, after the band temporarily added all ...
'' on January 29, 2008, to largely negative reviews.
In an interview with ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' on June 30, 2009,
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
' lead singer
Brandon Flowers
Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers.
In addition to his ...
mentioned that he thought Louis XIV had broken up. The band confirmed this on July 3, 2009, on their MySpace blog, saying that Brian Karscig had left the band to start The Nervous Wreckords. Karscig did not rule out the possibility of future reunions, but stated that he needed to take an indefinite break, since "Louis XIV started to feel more like a business than a camaraderie, and in that, the music started to suffer and started feeling uninspired."
Reunion (2012-present)
After performing a number of shows on their "Return of the King" tour in 2012 supporting
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
,
Jason Hill officially confirmed in an interview in March 2013 that the band had decided to reunite. As of 2022, however the band has not performed live or recorded new music since their initial split.
Controversy
Louis XIV was known for their sexually provocative lyrics in many of their songs. In 2005 the
Hoover, Alabama
Hoover is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in north central Alabama, United States. Hoover is the largest suburban city in Alabama and the 6th largest city in Alabama. The city had a population of 92,606 as of the 2020 US Census. Hoove ...
board of education withdrew an invitation for the band to perform a concert at Hoover High School. The board cited complaints about the lyrics of the band's songs, a recent arrest in California for
drug possession, and "the likely possibility of irresponsible acts," in determining that it was "not appropriate to have a band of this kind of nature" perform at the school.
The incident has given rise to the group being "banned from Alabama". As Hill explained to ''Reverb Magazine'' on November 17, 2007, while on tour in
Melbourne, Victoria:
When you hang out with us, you realize that we are constantly laughing and messing around. But Hoover, Alabama banned us – we weren't allowed to perform in the city at the time. I have no idea why. We first found out about it on CNN, the night before after the VMAs in Miami, we still got paid to play the show so we just hung out in Miami another day, we needed the break anyway. It was really very idiotic, I thought. I've been called a sexist and a male chauvinist. There was a really great article in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
's paper the '' Guardian'', which was called "10 Reasons Why You Should Not Like Louis XIV"; it was one of my favorite articles I've ever read about us. As it was all about the music being some of the best in the last 20 years, but that we were irresponsible morally, so everyone should avoid it. Its so far from the truth but I've even been called a racist when I used the terms "Chocolate Girl" and "Vanilla Girl". I was being playful. But in some ways, the most negative press can also be the biggest compliment.
Members
*
Jason Hill – vocals, guitar, bass, piano, engineering, production
*
Brian Karscig
Brian Joseph Karscig is a musician, songwriter, and record producer, but is mostly recognized as the co-singer/guitarist/songwriter for the American rock band Louis XIV signed to Atlantic Records. He also is the singer/guitarist/songwriter of ...
– guitar, vocals, bass, piano
*
James Armbrust – bass
*
Mark Maigaard – drums
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
* ''Pink'' EP (2004), Pineapple Recording Group
* ''Blue'' EP (2004), Pineapple Recording Group
* ''
Illegal Tender'' (January 25, 2005), Pineapple Recording Group/ Vice Records
* ''
The Distances from Everyone to You'' (September 11, 2007), Atlantic
Singles
References
External links
Louis XIV MyspaceThe Nervous Wreckords Brian Karcig
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis Xiv (Band)
American expatriates in France
Indie rock musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Diego
Atlantic Records artists
Musical groups established in 2003
Musical groups disestablished in 2009
Musical groups reestablished in 2013