Louis XIV Tell Secrets

San Diego's Louis XIV are high off the company they've been keeping since the release of their debut full-length album, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, this past March.

"We hung out with Dave Grohl for a bit. And Butch Vig and [former Jane's Addiction bassist] Eric Avery," frontman and guitarist Jason Hill says. "The coolest thing was for all of them to come up to us and say what fans they are. And we're sort of like, 'Oh, you've heard of us?'"

New York Dolls singer David Johansen also sought out the San Diego rockers at Baltimore's HFS music festival. "He said his kids really like our band," Hill says. "He showed up early especially to check us out. So there you go." The two sides are now talking about recording a track together. And Hill says it's a matter of when, not if. "Hell, yeah! We'll get him on one of our songs, or we'll write something with him. I can't wait."

The glam quartet recently wrapped a three-week tour with the Killers and has learned enough to upgrade their accommodations. "We just moved up to a bus, the Immortal," says Hill. "And now we've set up a little recording studio in the back." The studio allowed Louis XIV to do some impromptu recordings with their tourmates -- "but it was really nonchalant," says Hill. "I plan on trying to track with as many friends as I can."

With the recent release of The Best Little Secrets Are Kept internationally, the band has been busy writing material for B-sides and bonus tracks. "For the European release, there's a new song -- actually, a quite political one that I wrote about a year and a half ago," says Hill. "It's called 'More Than Bombs,' and it's one of my favorite guitar solos I've ever done."

Hill wrote new material while on a break from touring at his mother's house in San Diego. "My mom lives up in the mountains, overlooking this incredible valley, and she built this house with marble floors and big ceilings," he says. "It's just the best room we've ever recorded in. She was one out of town when we were off, so I just spent the week there." The new songs include "Queer Pressure" and "Ashes and Cinders."

For now, the band -- which has dates lined up with Interpol, Arcade Fire and at Lollapalooza in Chicago -- will continue to enjoy its moment in the sun. "Anybody who's appreciating our music, it's pretty flattering," guitarist Brian Karscig chimes in. "It makes you feel good about what you do. It means the world."

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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