Here's a message from my old coat pocket (Midnight Boom - The Kills)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Midnight Boom - The Kills
Date:	31/05/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great songs

Disadvantages: Some songworms

I first saw 'The Kills' at The Mighty Boosh Festival last year - and, for me, they were the most memorable part of the show. I got the album 'Midnight Boom' shortly afterwards and was not disappointed.


I liked the cover immediately; showing someone's messy bedroom - no designer decor here. Jamie Hince (from UK) and Alison Mosshart (from USA)sitting on the bed together. Everyone who listens or sees must process the question - what is their relationship? Mosshart described it in an interview (see it on youtube) as "Do or die". The back photo shows a snapshot like image of Hince with a helicopter behind him. It hints of the high life but it is tawdry. Inside, we have Mosshart holding up an old-fashioned telephone receiver + even more phone images. After getting to know the album, I feel the cd cover gets it completely right.

The Band
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There is only Hince and Mosshart - both on vocals and guitars. They claim that no one else wanted to play with them so they ended up with a drum machine. They had one which they used to call 'The Little Ba****d'. which broke at a gig.

Tracks
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URA Fever

Cheap and Cheerful

Tape Song

Getting Down

Last Day of Magic

Hook and Line

Black Balloon

M.E.X.I.C.O

Sour Cherry

Alphabet Pony

What New York Used To Be

Goodnight Bad Morning

The album kicks off with 'URA fever' - a song that starts with their trademark dialling tone (which goes on and on). They both have an interest in telephones (not mobiles) that goes back through their two previous albums. The lyrics hit the right tone of seedy (casinos, jukeboxes) juxtaposed with a hint of longing and with the notion hammered home that they "ain't born typical".


The next noteworthy song (for me) was 'Getting Down', a rhythmic drone of a song with thought-provoking lyrics 'Here's a message from my old coat pocket, my spirit's alive I want you to know'. I loved it and played it repeatedly until it was a songworm that drove me mad. The Kills often use they voices as an extra instrument. On this track they repeat a phrase of "Ow, ow, ow,ow, ow etc" to an annoyingly catchy tune. Incidentally, while at a Kills gig I was walking up some stairs to the bar (on my own) making the noise of this phrase quite loudly, I turned the corner of the stairwell to find Alison Mosshart's security guy listening, standing outside what must have been her dressing room. I felt a bit of a prat.


'Last Day of Magic' was their first single from the album. Hince described the song as a tempestuous breakup song. You want to show your (ex) lover something but it's too late and they've moved on. It has lyrics that tell it how it is, "I'll be the man with a broom, if you'll be the guts in the room".
I don't know if this was written about the on/off relationship Hince has with Kate Moss but hearing it makes me think of those tabloid photos of Hince with fight marks on his face.


'Hook and Line' really reminds me of some Banshees songs, however, I don't really rate this one.


'M.E.X.I.C.O.' is a fast, short one. I enjoyed this because it involved learning to spell out Mexico really fast whilst singing along in the car. It took me quite a while. "I'm goin down the road to M.E.X.I.C.O. - C.U."


My next fave is 'Sour Cherry' which is a song with the theme of feeling that you can never get it right with your lover- "Am I the only sour cherry on your fruit stand right?" It is delivered with some force by Mosshart.


Hince's guitar work is raw yet evocative and his slighty husky vocals compliment Mosshart's emotive rants. On stage they produced some passable versions of this excellent cd.


I'm not sure if there's a next one planned. Mosshart has been doing some work with Jack Black (White Stripes) and formed a new band. It should be worth a listen.


This is definately my most favourite cd of 2008.

Summary: A worthy member of the cd rack