The Kills - New York Mercury Lounge - 1/4/03
4/5
By: Joshua K
The Kills. The name alone suggests rock, primal and primordial. So bear with me, gentle reader, as I kick off this gig review - of the opening night of the band's U.S. tour, on the day their album hit American shops - in more formal fashion than might normally be warranted. With a technical term to describe the sound-mix, no less, because it has to be done. That phrase? 'Sucked ass.'
There. It's been said. But be glad that's out of the way. Because, despite the best efforts of the Tuesday night soundman to create unlistenable sludge out of VV and Hotel's estimable blues riffage, The Kills still slew. How so? Let us count the ways...
Forty-five minutes of loud, frazzled rock, emphasis on the loud, grittily reproducing faves including 'Superstition', 'Cat Claw', 'F**k The People', 'Fried My Little Brains' and 'Black Rooster'? Check. Backbeat driven by a drum machine, that shouldn't work yet somehow does better than you could ever imagine? Yup. Duelling female/male vox, adding a layer of sexual tension to the guitar blasts? In spades. The sexiest spastic dancing since Ian Curtis (with a hint of Axl Rose before he ate all the pies)? Mmm hmm.
After which, we're drunk, sweaty, deaf, and in love. At least until The White Stripes/Loretta Lynn show in a fortnight. You've got my number, baby. Just don't call me in the morning.
Artists in this article: The Kills
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