CD Review: The Kills, "Midnight Boom"
New album from rock duo exceeds expectations; a must buy for rockers
Kegan Zema
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Style
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The album definitely shows growth from their earlier material. Their first album, Keep on Your Mean Side, featured heavier guitar riffs from Hince and defined their garage-rock sound. Their sophomore release, No Wow, departed from the rock vibe to the more electronic side. According to music website Aversion.com, it was originally intended to be recorded on a Moog synthesizer rather than guitar until Hince's synthesizer broke. Midnight Boom is a perfect fusion of both fortes of the band, and its success is felt on every track.
The first track, also the first single released, is titled "U.R.A. Fever." This glitchy and haunting song relies primarily on sparse sound effects, heavy bass and clappy drums. Hince and Mosshart trade vocals back and forth in some sort of absurb lyrical conversation until they both chant the chorus, "You are a fever, you are a fever/ You ain't born typical."
Their latest single, which was recently featured as the iTunes single of the week, is the second track on the album. "Cheap and Cheerful" is probably the key track on the album, as it becomes a sort of indie anthem crooned by Mosshart. She hacks a phlegm-filled cough at the beginning of the track, perhaps a reference to her intense smoking habit, and then proclaims, "It's alright, to be me" and "I want you to be crazy cos you're boring baby when you're straight/ I want you to be crazy cos you're stupid baby when you're sane." It is this attitude that not only epitomizes the attitudes of Mosshart and Hince in life, but the approach they took on this album. They certainly took risks, and it paid off.
"Getting Down" features a little bit of the acoustic guitar and the duo singing together. The pair is often compared to the White Stripes, male/female garage rock duos. This song even features a little White Stripes allusion with a vocal riff that sounds similar to "Aluminum" off of White Blood Cells.
"Hook and Line" features Hince cranking out the guitar in a very non-subdued manner, and Mosshart responding equally in her vocal work. Hince's guitar work is definitely reminiscent of great garage rock and grunge shredders like Jack White and Kurt Cobain, while many compare Mosshart's vocal power, grit and darkness to that of PJ Harvey. One listen to this track and these obvious influences will become evident.
The latter half featured more of the same but all with added twists. "Black Balloon" and "Goodnight Bad Morning" areslow and ethereal tunes and sound like perfect backdrops for independent films or dreary walks in the rain. Conversely, "Sour Cherry" features more clappy electronic beats and chanted singing that is incredibly catchy and "What New York Used to Be" is both a bitingly sarcastic social commentary and an unrestrained garage-rock masterpiece.
Overall, the Kills make very few mistakes on this album. Its low-fi attitude and hi-fi energy combine to make a beautiful record. It is a true realization of how gritty and raw the world of rock and roll still is. The future of the music business is far from a tragic one if artists like the Kills continue to make music like this.
Grade: A
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