The Kills have enjoyed the public spotlight for the better part of the past two years, though not, admittedly, as a band. Lead vocalist Alison Mosshart received significant media attention for her high-profile musical partnership with Jack White, while guitarist Jamie Hince’s engagement to Kate Moss has been broadcast in an endless parade of tabloid headlines.
As a group, The Kills are now looking at a brand new pool of listeners, and it is interesting to see which facet of themselves the evolving duo has chosen present on their fourth studio album. As it turns out, Blood Pressures is a little more Iggy and a little less Pop. And as always, The Kills are doing post-punk garage rock proud.
Blood Pressures poses an interesting paradox: the album features a wider range of influences and a fuller, more streamlined sound, but will likely have less commercial appeal than their last release. Midnight Boom brought a certain amount of pop aesthetic to the harsher tunes of previous offerings, but with Blood Pressures the duo returns to good old-fashioned blues-infused rock. Opener “Future Starts Slow” soars on bouncy monosyllabic rhymes and a glam-rock hook. Mosshart and Hince’s trademark harmonies are both seductive and sinister, layered over Hince’s versatile guitar. Mosshart’s lyrics have never been truly unparalleled, but her dark, sexy croon gives them a certain undeniable intensity.
“Heart is a Beating Drum” is as buoyant and playful as the title would suggest, with fuzzy guitar riffs that are definitely indebted to the Black Keys’ recent work, as is the addictive, if slightly derivative “DNA”. “Satellite” and “Nail in My Coffin” are both raw, passionate tracks with a sharp edge. “Damned if She Do” is pure rock n’ roll operating within comfortable tropes, with lyrics like “She come alive when she dyin’, she come alive when she on her last legs”. Mosshart proves that she can swagger with the best of the boys on “You Don’t Own the Road”, while closer “Pots and Pans” proves that kitchen metaphors lend themselves surprisingly well to a sparse tune that is at once sultry and poisonous.
“The Last Goodbye” may be the album’s standout track, if only because it is a marked departure from anything that the duo has done before. Mosshart showcases a truly impressive set of pipes on this nostalgic piano ballad, coming off as a cross between Judy Garland and Florence Welch.
The worst that The Kills can be accused of on Blood Pressures is that they play right into the strengths that made No Wow and Midnight Boom such successes, offering up the same, slightly more self-aware sound. But if you’re like me, and you can’t get enough of their particular brand of post-punk, blues-infused garage rock, Blood Pressures is just what the doctor ordered.
The Kills – “Blood Pressures” (Domino) / In Stores Now
By Rebecca Hiscott
