Kills - No Wow

by Anastasia Grabov

published: 6 / 2 / 2005

Label: Domino Records
Format: CD

intro

Second album from British-American duo the Kills, who have taken influences such as Warhol, the Beats, the Velvet Underground and Edie Sedgewick, and recaptured them into "a kind of cool that seems to now be missing"

About two years ago Alison Mosshart got fed up of collaborating with Jamie Hince by mailing tapes across the pond and jumped on a plane in Florida to join her band mate in London. So The Kills were born. A strange connection and chemistry, triggered by their mutual love of an Edie Sedgwick biography, bought the two together. Both wanted to create something they could call their own, something new. As they talked about their influences in life, they came to realise there was "no wow" anymore. As the world becomes more superficial and predictable by the second, perhaps the main objective of this, their second album, was to put the "wow" back. All the research I've done over the day, all the while being seduced by Alison's voice, has got my mind spinning, hungover as it is, into a frenzy of ideas. The Kills have been influenced by the art, music, films, people that only exist in a kind of foreign world. Or at least so far from my lifetime that the only thing left to do is try and recapture it somehow, and recreate it so that a new underground is born. The Kills talk about Bonnie and Clyde, Warhol, the Beats, the Velvet Underground. They are trying to recapture something, a kind of cool that seems to now be missing. Where is this thing and how do we make it? I'd say they have made it. They are like nothing I have ever heard before. Yes, Alison's voice could all too easily be compared to PJ Harvey's, Patti Smith's, Chrissie Hynde's, but because it is raw, and confident, because you can hear the attitude, and she is one of those rare female singers who encompass all these things with style. But PJ Harvey does not sing in a bluesy-punk duo. Patti Smith does not use a drum machine. Chrissie Hynde has not neglected to hire a bassist. There is no comparison. This, their second album. was recorded in just two and a half weeks, in which they barely gave themselves time to think what they were doing in case the momentum was lost. What’s left is a very minimal mixture of drum machine, mid-tempo strums of the guitar, Alison’s warm, strong, yet sensual voice, and Jamie’s deep, echoing participation somewhere in the background to create a very fresh sounding take on the blues. In between writing songs the duo indulge themselves in creating art in all forms including video recordings and photography. Apparently, some songs were put together from random words cut up from magazines and letters, in the style of William Burroughs, father of the Beat generation of writers. Others, such as 'Dead Road 7', were written by Alison in 5 minutes as a stream of consciousness. Two tracks, titled 'I Hate the Way You Love' and 'I Hate the Way You Love Part 2' have the same lyrics, but different attitudes; the first is an intense expression of irritation, whilst the second version slows down almost to a stop as Alison repeats the lyrics “I hate the way you love…” until the track fades away, much more melancholic and fragile. The most appealing track though, is 'Rodeo Town', with its hummable riffs and captivating lyrics; “You were telling me how/ this ain’t no rodeo town/ I got the gun/ but you made me set it down.” The album ends with “Ticket Man,” a slow, repetitive, but somehow soulful song, in which Alison’s voice is complimented only by a sparsely used piano, and the ever present drum machine. Wow !

Track Listing:-

1 No Wow
2 Love Is A Deserter
3 Dead Road 7
4 The Good Ones
5 I Hate The Way You Love
6 I Hate The Way You Love Part 2
7 At The Back Of The Shell
8 Sweet Cloud
9 Rodeo Town
10 Murdermile
11 Ticket Man

Label Links:-

http://www.dominorecordco.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DominoRecordCo
https://twitter.com/DominoRecordCo
https://www.youtube.com/user/DominoRecords
https://plus.google.com/+DominoRecords