A Whole Load of Noise - #24 The Kills - Blood Pressures

And moving on in our little musical extravaganza, we stumble nicely upon The Kills.

Now, the little research that I've done about this band screams to me that I should know who they are, one of them is going out with Kate Moss for God sake, but no, they've passed me by, as so many bands do it seems (I blame Villagers for this - if Becoming a Jackal wasn't such a mind-shatteringly brilliant album, I would have listened to more music over the past six months).

Despite only being a duo, the band make a lot of noise. A. Lot. In a way that possibly only the White Stripes have done before them, and it's easy to make comparisons between the two, The Kills certainly use their limited personnel to excellent effect. Unlike the White Stripes, that seemed to be Jack White, with Meg in the background, smashing away like a 10-year-old speed addict on her drum kit, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are more than happy to share the workload.

Heavy drums and a catchy guitar riff are the order of the day as the album kicks off with the excellent Future Starts Slow, and things don't let up in second track Heart is a Beating. Despite the kick drum pushing us through the tracks at a reasonable pace, there is still quite an atmospheric feel to things here, although it compliments the music well.

Nail in My Coffin isn't dissimilar to the first two tracks either. The guitars are a fascinating electronic affair, while Mosshart warbles with power over the top. Infact, the first three songs on this album are all very good.

Unfortunately, we don't really stick to the same formula throughout. It's commendable that the band try to mix things up a bit, but Wild Charms is some kind of dark(ish) shoegaze affair, and a real let down considering what has come before it.

That's not to say that later tracks don't drag the record back to its former glory. DNA is an enjoyable jaunt, as is Damned If She Do, while The Last Goodbye actually shows that the band have the capability to make a good slower song, and it harks back to a sound of times gone by.

I can see the band being an excellent proposition live, but imagine that the crowd will exclusively comprise of the 'cool kids'. Maybe I'll be the one to break the mould.