Arts & Entertainment

Kills give blues rock an attitude

By Amber Lanphier
The Daily Cougar

Itis a rough time for girl-boy garage-rock duos right now. Whether they are minimally, or blatantly, horrible, there is a colossal hype machine working for them. The two-piece band, aptly titled The Kills, definitely falls under this stigma. The band dropped its debut album, Keep On Your Mean Side, a little over two weeks ago.

The similarities to the other girl-guy duo, the White Stripes, canit be denied. Thereis the whole not having a bassist thing. The entire album is purely guitar, drums and vocals with a bit of organ. However, this isnit necessarily a bad thing.

Thereis the alias-descendent factor. The lead singer goes by the name of V.V., and she hails from the magical, musical city of Detroit. She perfects that whole femme fatale, rock-goddess aura. Her male counterpart goes by the cheeky ‘Hoteli and comes straight out of London.

The pair even recorded a few tracks at Liam Watsonis Toe Rag Studios in London — the same place Jack and Meg of the White Stripes laid the tracks on their latest Elephant.

It is possible that these factors are just coincidence instead of what some may speculate to be a case of copycatting. Regardless, the influences of the bandis songs are more reminiscent of P.J. Harvey and mid-80s noise rockers Royal Trux than they are of the White Stripes.

On the second track "Cat Claw," V.V.is violent voice intertwines perfectly with Hotelis descending power chords in a Runaways "Cherry Bomb" sort of way.

Other tracks with attitude include "Fried My Little Brains" which has a striking Primus feel to it and "Superstition" which is trashy little rock number that will make heads bob. Things slow down a bit on tracks such as "Kissy Kissy," which provides a weary mantra-style characteristic and "Gypsy Death and You," which is full of sweet strums sure to evoke sentimental feeling. "Wait" beautifully captivates V.V.is snazzy lyrics with a thumping drumbeat and harmonica.

The overall attempt of the album is an avant-garde update of blues rock, and although The Kills isnit genuine, it does it well. You can catch the band this Friday at Fat Catis with Fatal Flyin Guilloteens and the Ex-Models.

The Kills

Keep On Your Mean Side

Rough Trade Records

The verdict: This album isnit killer, but definitely worth picking up.
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