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Louis XIV

Historians remember Louis XIV as Louis The Great, one of the best and brightest monarchs to rule 17th century France; hipsters will probably remember Louis XIV as a cool post-punk rock band. The band formed in 2003, when American frontman/guitarist Jason Hill and lead guitarist Brian Karscig started jamming together garage band-style while living in Paris, France. The duo soon recruited drummer James Armburst and bassist Mark Maigaard and began performing locally around Paris’ colorful Spanish District, recording their first album Louis XIV on an aging 16-track tape machine in a dingy old world basement. Though released independently by the band, their self titled debut moved in excess of 20,000 copies (though sold exclusively over the internet and at live shows), drawing international interest when members of Oasis and Queens of the Stone Age began to applaud the record.

After relocating to San Diego, California the band’s presence in the United States began to swell as major West coast radio stations began to play yet-unreleased music from Louis XIV’s website, leading the band to independently release two limited edition vinyls (the Pink EP and the Blue EP) before signing a record deal with Atlantic Records (Panic At The Disco, Stone Temple Pilots) in late 2004. Though often classified as indie rock, Louis XIV’s sound can best be characterized as a sort of low-fi garage rock with punk and blues influences, somewhat similar to contemporaries like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or The Libertines.

Louis XIV made their major label debut with the release of their second full-length album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, which hit store shelves in March 2005. The record was a moderate success, peaking at #159 on the Billboard 200 - though singles "God Killed the Queen" and "Finding Out True Love is Blind" fared much better on the rock charts. Critical reception of the album was somewhat mixed, with most complaints revolving around the band’s explicit lyrics, rife with double entendres, puns, and sexual innuendo. Though artists like Alicia Keys and David Bowie were outspoken fans of the band, not everyone felt the same way - the band was famously barred from playing a number of shows in Alabama due to the adult nature of their lyrics.