Monthly Crush in 3-D: The Kills

My third crush for the month is a British duo who finally got it right: The Kills.

I bought into the massive hype surrounding The Kills’ 2003 debut album Keep on Your Mean Side, but was woefully disappointed. Sure, their stripped-down garage rock was full of attitude, but is was missing catchy tunes. It added up to 45 minutes of black-leather drones that put me to sleep. I passed on follow-up No Wow, but early positive reviews of this year’s Midnight Boom made me pay attention again. I was sold when “Cheap and Cheerful” was made a free download from the iTunes Store: it’s a bright, sexy mix of fuzzy rock, jumpy electro, wild percussion, and hand claps that quickly found its way into the mix on my iPhone.

The whole of Midnight Boom is even better than “Cheap and Cheerful” hints, and it’s definitely in the running for my favorite album of ‘08: the songs are a winning mix of unpredictable, lo-fi percussion; jumpy, amazingly catchy hooks; and snarling, fuzzy riffs. It’s a sleek, taut album, too: with each song clocking in somewhere between 2 and 3.5 minutes, sometimes cutting off just as a song really gets percolating (I could listen to the chorus of “Last Day Of Magic” for 45 minutes, but they wisely cut it at 3:20), they leave you wanting more — it’s amazingly re-listenable. I’ve yet to find a song worth skipping. Try these two tunes on for size:

Download: The Kills, “Last Day of Magic” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Kills, “Tape Song” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Like what you hear? Grab Midnight Boom at iTunes, which is offering the album with a bonus track.