The Kills Review

Ooooooh!  Very cool band; imagine a mix of Gorillaz and The White Stripes, only cut back and darker. The Kills are very minimalist and somber, but at the same time really interesting. With a heavy reliance on bass and drum beats, The Kills diverge from the standard of guitar solos and complex melodies in favor of a simplistic, darker and unique sound.  This usually heavy use of simply bass and drums does not mean that The Kills can't rock out though!  The song Hook and Line from their latest album, released in 2008, Midnight Boom, unleashes a gritty, fast-paced guitar melody.  The Kills have done good work in cutting down rock and roll, bringing their songs much closer to the blues roots they come from, similarly to the White Stripes, and this becomes very clear on their song Fuck the People, off their first album Keep on Your Mean Side (2003). The Kills' best songs so far come from the albums Midnight Boom and Now Wow (2005).  From Midnight Boom comes U.R.A. Fever, an example of The Kills' minimalist style utilizing almost completely bass, simple drum beats, and hand claps, with the occasional distorted guitar here and there.  Also from Midnight Boom is my favorite track by The Kills: Black Balloon.  Another cut down song, Black Balloon's true brilliance is revealed a minute and 36 seconds into the song, when the electric guitar starts.  Simple and basic, the melody is catchy and makes you bob your head to the music, making the simple guitar part sound brilliant.  The album No Wow offers more great songs; Ticket Man and the title track, No Wow.  The simple piano and even simpler percussion of Ticket Man will leave you marvelling at how such basic music could be so good, and while No Wow's gritty guitar chords might start a bit late in the song, they rock out loud and hard once they start!