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I had high hopes for The Kills new record, No Wow, released in March. I dug their 2003 debut, the gritty Keep on Your Mean Side. Their primal drums and snarly guitar packed a wallop that succeeded in modernizing the sleezy roots of Southern juke-joint blues. Like the Immortal Lee County Killers, except with a talented vocalist (two of 'em actually), The Kills had a knock-your-jaw-outta-socket swagger that was more than just token posturing. I mean, what is there not to like about a band that has the balls to cover Captain Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie" (on their debut EP no less).




When I heard the single, "Love Is a Deserter," from their new album, I was sold on first listen. Here was a song playing to their strengths, beefing up the bombastic guitar and pushing the tempestuous vocals--especially those of the sultry Alison Mosshart--more to the fore. And the coy guitar hook over the chorus is just a playful pat on the ass when no one else is looking. This duo is fucking with you just to show you they can. It's a great song, like P.J. Harvey's 4-Track Demos as remixed by Suicide.

But, the rest of No Wow is such a total letdown. Jamie Hince's Nic Zinner-ish guitar riffage often sounds tired. The not-so-subtle attempt at Velvet Underground simplicity on "I Hate the Way You Love, Part 2" sounds too much like flattery. Ditto that on the Suicide-like rumble of "The Good Ones". I miss the live drums of old; I could do without the drum machine, which sounds like it's actually the complacent percussive tracks of your mother's organ. A lot of the album just sounds like an unconvincing rehash of the sexy blues-rawk of vintage Harvey and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Somehow, the band managed to sound bigger on their sophomore album, yet less raw (and hence less dangerous). Chalk that up to the improved fidelity on this record, which is a double-edged sword.




There's plenty of sinister urban decay and restless emotion captured on No Wow, but unfortunately most of it just sounds like musical snapshots of the same old underpass graffiti that we've all walked past countless times.

For perspective, here's the Beefheart cover, a couple songs from their debut, and four songs from No Wow. (If you can't listen to these tunes with the volume cranked, then don't bother.)

From the Black Rooster EP:

"Dropout Boogie" - Live take of the Safe As Milk standard. I love how the song is distilled down to the meaty guitar riff and the noisy open-mouthed high hat.

From Keep on Your Mean Side:

"Fried My Little Brains" - The sort of a song I imagine pumping out of the 6x9s of a Cadillac convertible barreling through the New Mexico desert with a dead body in the trunk.

"Hitched" - A filthy blues guitar riff that sounds like ZZ Top with slit wrists.

From No Wow:

"Love Is a Deserter" - The single that hooked me on the new record.

"At the Back of the Shell" - No Wow's second attempt at a saving grace. Nice staccato guitar riff and unusual percussive backing track (hand claps coupled with kick drum).

"The Good Ones" - I suppose this would be the marketable single that gets played in the dressing room of every Gap in America.

"I Hate the Way You Love Me, Pt. 2" - Somewhere Lou Reed is yawning. Been there, done that.

Purchase The Kills at any of the following retailers: Insound, Other Music, and Amazon.