No Wow

Boy meets Girl. Boy and Girl share musical affinity. Boy and Girl decide to make some records. It’s a time-honoured formula all right, but in this case The Kills, aka VV and Hotel, have added another chapter. Boy and girl make compulsive, convulsive first record that makes them the most beloved, ominous musical Bonnie & Clyde since Kim’n’Thurston.

In a parallel universe, PJ Harvey and Trent Reznor could well have made this record. In this universe, it’s been left to The Kills to bring such an opus to life. VV is a fifty-foot queenie if ever we heard one; like a less stylized Karen O, VV oozes sex and sleaze with every lyric.

Lest you think that The Kills are a one-hit wonder, this sophomore album signals a further move into malevolent, dark territory, and their sound is all the better for it. Dabbling in dense, nihilistic atmospherics as championed by Joy Division, No Wow is gloriously twisted and angular. Instruments are sparsely used, and it’s precisely this sonic paucity, the quiet spaces between drum machine, vocal and growling guitar that causes the most disquiet.

‘Love Is A Deserter’ is angular and abrasives, a corrosive nugget of post-punk perfection, while ‘At The Back of The Shell’ features what sounds like a mild electric shock, making it a perfect summation of The Kills’ desiratum.

No Wow isn’t a record for everyone, but you’ll find much to love here if you don’t mind your albums sounding a touch claustrophobic or clinical. Will they manage to put the ‘wow’ back into lo-fi garage? Take a listen to this record, then place your bets wisely.