(Morning Star, Saturday 05 March 2005)
ALBUM: The Kills - No Wow
(Domino)
THE relentless pounding drums of opener No Wow are the battle cry of The Kills - they're throwing down the gauntlet to all the young pretenders, those who think that they can play the blues when they've got no soul or who lamely try to emulate The Smiths over Patti.
Jamie Hince's grinding guitars are the perfect accompaniment to Alison Mosshart's pouting vocals and the cold, clipped drum machine creates a space for the pair's musical - and sexual - chemistry to move and burn.
Telephone Radio Germany shudders with feverish guitar stabs, while Love is a Deserter trudges in with insistent menace. Dead Road takes off with a bruising guitar lick that Mick Ronson would be proud of.
It's clear that the intensity from the duo's 2003 debut Keep On Your Mean Side hasn't dissipated - if anything, on tracks like Good Ones, they sound closer than ever to implosion.
The Kills are essential, because there just aren't enough bands around with the cool smarts of the Velvet Underground and the icy sexiness of Patti Smith.
No Wow? What a misnomer.
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