Cool Kids of Death

Cool Kids of Death, named after the Saint Etienne song, are new wave for bored-to-death intellectuals, with catchy pop melodies, shoegaze guitars, and extremely cynical lyrics. This Lodz-based group was formed in 2001 by vocalist Krzysztof Ostrowski, bassist Jakub Wandachowicz, guitarists Marcin Kowalski and Wojciech Michalec, keyboardist Kamil Lazikowski, and drummer Jacek Fras. The group signed a professional contract with Sissy Records after only having a homemade demo recording under their belts. They debuted with a full-fledged album in 2002, Cool Kids of Death, wherein their standards appeared -- "Butelki z Benzyna i Kamienie," "Specjalnie Dla TV," and "Uwazaj." In August 2002, Kuba Wandachowicz's article called "Generacja Nic" ("Generation Nothing") was published in Gazeta Wyborcza which, combined with CKOD's non-conformist lyrics, led the group to be characterized as part of a generation youth rebels. In August 2003, Cool Kids of Death made a spectacular comeback, releasing the intransigently atonal and raspy sophomore album Cool Kids of Death 2. (It was reissued the same year and titled Cool Kids of Death 2.2.) In November 2004 the band released their first English language album, simply called Cool Kids of Death, which gathered the highlight tracks from their first two CDs. In March 2006 CKOD issued their third album Cool Kids of Death 2006. ~ Aleksander Stepien, All Music Guide