THIS WEEK: BANDS I’LL SEE ON FRIDAY AT THE ‘PALOOZA
“Last Day of Magic“
from the album Midnight Boom
2008
iTunes
The majority of the great British public will be familiar with Pete Doherty for his dalliance with 21st century rock’s favourite accessory — Kate Moss — rather than his body of work. It’s also fairly safe to assume that at least half of those who have heard his music rather wish they hadn’t. Of course, in an age when fame has become an end in itself regardless of what’s done to achieve it, Doherty’s done rather well for himself but it has to hurt his creative soul to be known for anything but the day job.
Over the course of repeated listens to Midnight Boom, the third album from singer Alison Mosshart and guitarist/growler Jamie Hince, you come to realise that living life through a lens must come to mean very little to The Kills. Because it soon becomes apparent that if anyone’s riding on someone else’s coat tails, then it sure isn’t this band’s plank spanker, who is now famously stepping-out with the aforementioned super-model.
As the push and pull rhythms of “U.R.A. Fever” splutter and jerk at the onset of the duo’s latest collection, before giving way to the kind of groove that U.S. Army platoons march to on parade with “Cheap and Cheerful,” The Kills serve notice that not only have they moved on from the shadows of previous album No Wow, but they’ve left it as a speck of dust on the horizon. Received wisdom had it that bands struggled at the third album stage. These days, they’re lucky to make it to the third single, yet The Kills confound all preconceived notions here.
For sure, Mosshart and Hince carry enough history between them to succeed but the presence of Spank Rock producer Alex Epton has infused The Kills’ rock ‘n roll groove with a funky touch that’s both palpable and infectious. Check the minimalist pulse of “Getting Down,” as dance beats coalesce with chanting voices, lifting The Kills way beyond what has gone before. Likewise the sparse yet forceful modulations of “Sour Cherry”— if ever two songs were separated at birth then this is the pair.
Sandwiched between them are the kinds of serrated and jagged shards of noise we’ve come to expect from The Kills. “Last Day of Magic” finds Hince practically strangling his guitar, while “Hook and Line” sees the shadow of Siouxsie Sioux slip approvingly by. Best of all is “Black Balloon,” which mirrors The Velvet Underground’s ability to fuse melody with menace, Mosshart’s salacious croon leaving an indelible imprint. Not only have The Kills delivered a rock ‘n roll album of note, it’s one that achieves the rare trick of weaving timelines and timelessness with indecent ease.