In the three years between No Wow and Midnight Boom, it sounds like the Kills discovered that having fun is actually much cooler than searching for haughty minimalist ock perfection. While Keep on Your Mean Side and No Wow's sinuous snarls were about as savagely spare and sexy as it's possible to get, their minimalism bordered on monochromatic. Midnight Boom bleeds color, excitement, and emotion into VV and Hotel's music, transforming it into daring, dirty pop that is unrepentantly glamorous and tender, high-end and trashy, and it glitters like diamonds mixed with broken glass. It's even structured like a classic pop album, opening with two bold salvos: "U.R.A. Fever" fashions dial tones, cryptically sexy banter, a foot-stomping, hand-clapping beat, and sneering shards of guitar into a fiercely catchy single. It struts with the best of the Kills' previous work, but opens their sound to many more possibilities. "Cheap and Cheerful" gets even wilder, combining VV's high-maintenance sass with a rhythm forged out of slamming doors and coughing, approximating a collaboration between Joan Jett and Matmos. These songs, and the rest of Midnight Boom, are nearly as minimalist as the Kills' other albums, but the duo plays with sounds much more: spring-loaded guitars and fanciful, detailed beats pop up when least expected, but everything falls into place effortlessly. This may be the Kills' most processed, produced music, but it's some of their roughest and rawest-sounding, too, with "Alphabet Pony" and "Hook and Line" rocking just as hard, and with more conviction, than their earlier work. The Kills also bring more feeling to Midnight Boom, which is just as crucial -- and arguably, more daring -- to the album's brilliance as is the band's newfound sonic adventurousness. "Getting Down"'s cheeky, hip-shaking, babbling nonsense brings the fun of the Kills' best singles to the fore, as does "Sour Cherry," which makes the hand-jive rhythm sound hip for the first time in half a century (the nasty, buzzing, three-note guitar solo riding it probably helps). VV and Hotel don't save their soft and melodic sides for just a token ballad, as they've done before -- although Midnight Boom's big ballad, "Goodnight Bad Morning," comes on like the Velvets' "Sunday Morning" with the force of 40 more years of hangovers and comedowns fuelling it. "Black Balloon" is as epic as it is vulnerable, its slow-building majesty making it a standout. Even the semi-sweet electro ockabilly of "Last Day of Magic" has a yearning that resonates with a surprising depth. Best of all is "What New York Used to Be," a last hurrah that sounds urgent, not nostalgic, although its wall of staticky guitars come into focus like a memory. A list of everything that once was great, it's a song about not being too cool to care, even if it's delivered with a wink. Midnight Boom is the Kills' most consistent, varied, and inventive album yet, and proof that passion and creativity trump cool any day.
I liked Midnight Boom when I first got it, but now I love it. I thought it was just one of those trendy albums that would get old really fast, but I keep coming back to it and each time I do I seem to find a new favorite song. The Kills really understand the importance of simplicity. Sometimes pop songs are cluttered with all kinds of background noise and production that take away from what...
More >
The Kills have been playing steadily through my headphones these last few weeks. They have overtaken the hundreds of artists on my ipod, even distracting me from Philosophy Bites podcasts. Some feat! I knew an addiction was in the cards as soon as I heard “The Tape Song”, which is the third track on Midnight [...]
More >
Lean, mean, raw and sexy, that's how I'd describe The Kills. They are the epitome of a streamlined band. With only two members, a lineup can't get much sparser. Like their fellow country persons the Ting Tings, they make the most out of their minimal approach. Midnight Boom is their third album and a triumph of indie rock leanness.The Kills are comprised of Alison "VV" Mosshart (vocals) and Ja...
More >
A Romanian friend of mine tells me that according to an old Romanian superstition, you are supposed to make a wish every time you do something that you've never done before. Last weekend I got to make one of these wishes because for the first time in my life, I went to a concert __sans personne.__ I figured that I had been to enough concerts with friends and have usually ended up being more dis...
More >
Until a couple weeks ago, I would have said that Hot Chip had released the best album of an adolescent 2008. Made in the Dark isn't quite on par with last year's Sound of Silver (LCD Soundsystem), but it comes from a similar sonic playground, including songs that can knock you down with shock and awe ("Shake a Fist") and lull you into a meditative appreciation ("Wrestlers").Who could have up-en...
More >
I had planned on putting up three different posts for each review I wanted to do, but thought why not just throw everything into one.So here goes:Cadence Weapon - Afterparty BabiesCan I just way, "WOW!" This record blew me away. Not because it was all that different from a lot of backpacker hiphop out there, but it is different. It felt less like an academic street scholar throwing around obscu...
More >
I don't much enjoy cow milk or any milk from other species for that matter. I've heard RAW Milk is where its at, but fuck that shit. Im not even lactose but after a glass of milk I feel awful. Anyway now that you know about my intestines… … Let's talk about breakfast! … Well actually lets [...]
More >
I liked Midnight Boom when I first got it, but now I love it. I thought it was just one of those trendy albums that would get old really fast, but I keep coming back to it and each time I do I seem to find a new favorite song. The Kills really understand the importance of simplicity. Sometimes pop songs are cluttered with all kinds of background noise and production that take away from what...
More >
Ed Westwick from Gossip Girl. (That's him there) Not only did Gossip Girl win six Teen Choice Awards, but now the show's villain has smitten my girl crush. This all according to OK Magazine. Alison Mosshart and Westwick were reportedly galavating around Chicago following the Kills Friday Lollapalooza set before the teen hunk had to fly out for the LA awards show. (I was there but didn't see th...
More >
There's only one person that could unhook me from The Last Shadow Puppets' album {at least for a while}, and that person is Dale....I kinda always liked The Kills, but I was always far away from liking them a lot. After listening to their new album, Midnight Boom, I'm there. Sexually charged and musically contagious, it's been on repeat since yesterday (sorry, monsieur Turner).My only thought n...
More >
Lean, mean, raw and sexy, that's how I'd describe The Kills. They are the epitome of a streamlined band. With only two members, a lineup can't get much sparser. Like their fellow country persons the Ting Tings, they make the most out of their minimal approach. Midnight Boom is their third album and a triumph of indie rock leanness.The Kills are comprised of Alison "VV" Mosshart (vocals) and Ja...
More >
An end to the one of the most bizarre stories from the road. Grunge-punk duo the Kills have found their tourbus which went missing last week following their gig at the Austin City Limits music festival. The band, who'd been on tour with the Raconteurs for the later part of the summer, announced via their Web site that "OUR BUS DRIVER IS MISSING AND/OR HURT/DEAD/or A THIEF. OUR BUS HAS DISAPPEAR...
More >
If there was one album this past year I was inspired to get because it received great reviews across the board...it was the Kills' Midnight Boom. If there was one album I thought I got my money's worth on it would be Kanye West's Graduation with the Kills' Midnight Boom in a close second. So here's a video for the track Last Day Of Magic off the highly-regarded Midnight Boom. In the video The K...
More >
After having read Mike (zeroskillz) lay out his experience of seeing The Kills in concert, now they drop this ... intense ... video on us for "Last Day of Magic". I personally doubt any malice between the two, but then again, long tours, you never know, right?
More >
To start, one of the songs in high rotation pre-Coachella, which was glued to my ears on both flights. Also a pretty apt description of yours truly; hopefully my friends didn't get bored with it, heh.Sorry, it had to be done. Heehee. And if you want to see as well as read some of our hijinks, you owe it to yourself to visit "+Amber's recap+":http://mog.com/amber/blog_post/159410. I promise ther...
More >
Sure, he's engaged and she's reportedly seeing someone. They call themselves friends and a "2 person social group"....please! Anyone can clearly see there is something more going on between the two! Perhaps it IS simply musical creativity flowing from their hearts...but DAMN...I'm thinking they are totally hot for each other! Especially after watching last nights episode of "Live at Abbey...
More >
"I'll be the man with the broom,if you'll be the guts of the room.And there's only so much you can hide,before I corner you."Last Day of Magic ~ The KillsOutside in the night it is beautiful. One of those Los Angeles nights that people envy, though I know we are right on the cusp of a long, hot Summer. I'd rather it stay just how it is - right now - but nothing ever stays the same.Tonight I wis...
More >
I'm in Washington DC today, and I was in New York last week...if this keeps up I'm going to feel like a working woman again. But anyway, New York was pretty great, and I saw a bunch of friends, ran around the reservoir with my son, ate Chinese and Thai and chino latino, and did a surprising amount of work, given all that. But man, the city has changed big-time, scary big-time. Every time I go...
More >
A Romanian friend of mine tells me that according to an old Romanian superstition, you are supposed to make a wish every time you do something that you've never done before. Last weekend I got to make one of these wishes because for the first time in my life, I went to a concert __sans personne.__ I figured that I had been to enough concerts with friends and have usually ended up being more dis...
More >
VV and Hotel (now famous for Kate Moss's new boyfriend)'s The Kills, will release the first new single "U.R.A Fever" since their 2005 album, No Wow, and is a taster of what’s to come from their new album expected in March 2008.Limited edition "U.R.A. Fever" 7" will be in stores on January 7.-> The Kills MySpace
More >
I had planned on putting up three different posts for each review I wanted to do, but thought why not just throw everything into one.So here goes:Cadence Weapon - Afterparty BabiesCan I just way, "WOW!" This record blew me away. Not because it was all that different from a lot of backpacker hiphop out there, but it is different. It felt less like an academic street scholar throwing around obscu...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 U.R.A. Fever |
|
|
| 2 Cheap and Cheerful |
|
|
| 3 Tape Song |
|
|
| 4 Getting Down |
|
|
| 5 Last Day of Magic |
|
|
| 6 Hook and Line |
|
|
| 7 Black Balloon |
|
|
| 8 M.E.X.I.C.O. |
|
|
| 9 Sour Cherry |
|
|
| 10 Alphabet Pony |
|
|
| 11 What New York Used to Be |
|
|
| 12 Goodnight Bad Morning |
|
|
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Midnight Boom")
