The Kills arrived late for a party that saw The White Stripes and The Raveonettes absorb optimum press interest in boy/girl duos trading in brash garage rock and simmering sexual tension. Acquiring the status of also-rans can’t be much fun, especially when even the leaders of the pack seem unlikely to ever make music as transcendental as that of their heroes.
Midnight Boom finds the duo attempting a well-advised renovation of their trademark brand of aggressive urban blues. ‘Cheap And Cheerful’ is robotic electro-pop that owes more to the minimal techno of MIA than the raucous blues-punk of PJ. For the most part this stylistic deviation represents a step forward. Earlier in The Kills' career, a track like ‘Black Balloon’ may have exploded with predictable impetuosity, but here it seethes with tension, exchanging subtle atmospheric synths for searing guitars. If anything, it’s the patches of familiarity that prove unwelcome. Too often vocalist Alison Mosshart allows her inner Karen O-banshee-yelp to burst out and claim victory for Team Indie, not least on the stodgy ‘Hook And Line’.
With no song exceeding four minutes, and six clocking in at under three, this is as concise as they come. Perhaps only a handful of these lively bursts are truly memorable, but those that are – ‘Last Day Of Magic’ and ‘Black Balloon’ in particular – are small, trashy pop gems. Even listeners previously resistant to The Kills' studied cool may have to concede that Midnight Boom is a record of considerable energy and excitement.