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The Kills are dead on with <i>Midnight Boom</i>

The rock duo finds a perfect balance and a sound to call their own with their latest release.

The Kills

Midnight Boom

Released on Nov 30, -0001

Sometimes it takes a few tries for a band to really find their sound, to really evolve into an exceptional example of music. Such is the case with Midnight Boom, the new release from garage rock duo The Kills. Opening with the gritty and raw "U.R.A. Fever," lead singer Alison Mosshart blends her smoky vocals with a white-hot guitar lick layered over heavy bass beat, setting a dark and gritty tone for the album.

The Kills have used this style before, yet Midnight Boom sounds more polished and sure of itself, more a labor of love then their past releases that sometimes seemed like they were trying just a little too hard to be something that wasn't natural. Here you find a more developed and smarter version of The Kills, a band willing to step out of their usual boundaries and try different sound technique and instrumentation, creating a sound that is so familiar yet so fresh.

The Kills showcase a rollicking bluesy rock and punk infused album that creates a blend of sharp and soulful sound that comes together perfectly. I could keep finding more adjectives to describe the sonic experience of Midnight Boom, but it just boils down to being exceptionally good music. The kind of music that you grow up wanting to create in your parents garage, or the music that is the perfect soundtrack to a whiskey and beer fueled Friday night spent with all your closest friends. It's raw and passionate, sharp and witty and one of the first albums in a long time that I enjoyed the entire way through. In a sea of singles and sub-par offerings in rock music, The Kills offer up 34 minutes of perfectly fun and wonderful rock 'n' roll. They don't try to overdo it, the songs aren't radically new or totally innovative, the format of the music is pretty bare and simple, yet Midnight Boom has yet to loose its luster, even after I've played the album too many times through.

The lyrics are honest ("time ain't gonna cure you honey, time don't give a shit"), the music is fuzzy and abrasive sometimes ("M.E.X.I.C.O."), but so is life itself, and as most musicians will tell you, music is life. The Kills really do capture the sharpness and the subtle art and balances of good rock ‘n’ roll music, providing one of the most pleasant albums I've heard in a long time.

High Point: “U.R.A. Fever” sounds like the kind of music models listen to while laying around while smoking and pouting in bed, it's that stereotypically cool.

Low Point: It's only 34 minutes long? How can you low point a record you love? It's like giving Timmy a gold star on an A paper, but writing underneath "Next time make sure all your letters are in a perfect line." However, it seems sometimes that the lyrics are pretentious. Is this a big deal? Not at all – but it might bother some.

Quick Point: Guitarist Jamie Hince is dating Kate Moss, so the probability that one of these songs was inspired by doing lines with a supermodel is pretty high.

Posted by Lisa White on Apr 15, 2008 @ 12:00 am