The Kills’ Midnight Boom was so good I held off going to the bathroom until it was done, despite the fact that I really had to go. Squirming in my seat, alternately from excitement about the music and the building pressure in my bladder, I just couldn’t bear missing one minute. Now, I know bugger all about this band aside from sitting here and listening to what’s coming out of the speakers, but really, when the music excites you, what else do you need to know?The music is of the garage rock/lo-fi indie variety, with elements of pop, punk, electronica and other little experiments including hand claps and coughed-up lungs working their way into the mix for sh**s and giggles. With Midnight Boom, it’s hard to pick out favorite tracks since they’re all so short. By the time I come to the realization, “I like this song,” it’s over and the next one is halfway through playing. The songs themselves lend some difficulty to pigeonhole this into any one genre, which I don't mind in the slightest; I'd rather a band take some chances than bore me with a lack of variety. However, while the majority of the album is busy kicking you in the pants repeatedly from odd angles, the last track, “Goodnight Bad Morning,” is a quiet little acoustic number and a really nice way to close out the album. Everything else, though, insists on grabbing you by the throat and not letting you go.
I’m putting this down as a first impression rather than a full review since I don’t have the actual album in my hands. The entirety of Midnight Boom is posted on the band’s myspace page, and it’s rather detrimental to the experience to jump back and forth between Firefox and a review in progress. Since you can go listen to it yourself, a review seems rather pointless, but I wanted to at least gush for a little about how much I am enjoying what I’ve heard.
My only complaint is that the album is only slightly over a half an hour long. I prefer albums to be around 40-50 minutes so as to really get into the music. Some really good tracks on Midnight Boom, such as “M.E.X.I.C.O.,” are criminally short. But what the hell, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and gives you a one-two punch in the kidneys before pissing its name on your music collection and skipping away merrily. I’m looking forward to this release on Tuesday, March 18th, and I hope you are too.
The Kills official website
The Kills myspace page
1 comment:
i'm finally checking this album out...it's playing right this second. i dig it, a lot. it's not usually my kind of thing, but the songwriting/blending of different lo-fi styles is really successful here.
so far, so good!
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