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Midnight Boom
(2008)
The Kills
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Label: Domino
Duration: 33:56
Genre: Alternative Rock

Jamie "Hotel" Hince might have become tabloid fodder thanks to his relationship with Kate Moss, but the third album by The Kills, his band with American vocalist Alison "VV" Mosshart, does relatively little to tidy itself up for mainstream consumption. "Midnight Boom" is a typically lean set of makeshift punk-blues characterised by Hince's raw, Nick Zinner-style guitar, and Alison's bad-attitude drawl: see the opening "U.R.A Fever", a beat-up call-and-response number reminiscent of Royal Trux than sees Hince and Mosshart swapping sour quips over loping bass and drum machine thud, while "Cheap and Cheerful" sees Mosshart declaring "I want you to be crazy/'Cos you're boring baby when you're straight". The presence of producer Armani XXXchange of Baltimore hip-hop outfit Spank Rock means there's a greater emphasis here on rhythm, often of a synthetic nature: "Alphabet Pony" bumps along on robust, lo-fi drum kicks and bursts of primitive electronics, while "Black Balloon" is a slow-burner that toys with layered percussion built from hand claps, scrapers, and tapped snare. The Kills still have problems with a big, memorable chorus–-assuming, indeed, that was ever their intention--but "Midnight Boom" is all about grit and grooves, and it does that just fine. "–Louis Pattison"


TrackDuration
U.R.A. Fever2:16
Cheap And Chearful
Tape Song3:35
Getting Down2:55
Last Day Of Magic3:21
Hook And Line2:03
Black Balloon3:46
M.E.X.I.C.O.C.U
Sour Cherry3:06
Alphabet Pony1:45
What New York Used To Be3:15
Goodnight Bad Morning3:51
Cheap And Cheerful2:26
M.E.X.I.C.O.1:37
Original Release: 2008-03-18
Producer: XXXCHANGE
UPC: 801390016424, 5034202018421, 801390016417