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Four albums in for the other deliciously-frayed, minimal garage rock two-piece comprising one man and one woman, and guess what? It’s a Steve Reich covers album interpreted entirely on piccolo and flugelhorn.
Fans of The Kills will have spotted the mendacity of the previous sentence and probably (rightly) guessed that Blood Pressures is another solid album of fundamentalist, primal noise. Throughout Jamie Hince plays his guitar like a framed prisoner scratching his last angry wishes on a cell wall, while Alison Mosshart sings with the conviction and menace of a lying politician.
Where sorely-missed Detroit heroes The White Stripes had rabid but often bluesy moments in their cheap, thrilling canon, The Kills have always been dark and vicious, snarling punks with drum machines and lit cigarettes flicked into your hair. At its best, material on this album matches the seductive, shop-soiled greasiness of early tracks like Fried My Little Brains, from 2003. Future Starts Slow is marvellous. "You can holler, you can wail / You can swing, you can flail," Hince and Mosshart tell us, like they don’t care if they receive the ransom money or not. Satellite, the single spat out online pre-release, offers evidence of Mosshart’s stint in The Dead Weather. When she sings the central refrain, "Operator, operator, dial me back / Operator, put me through," it’s easy to imagine Jack White nodding in approval while an ace, syncopated Hince riff grinds away.
There are surprises on Blood Pressures. The Last Goodbye has the whimsy, reluctance and nostalgia of Sparklehorse circa It’s a Wonderful Life, while album closer Pots and Pans could be a lost Beck track from the One Foot in the Grave days, if the man had been possessed by Tom Waits before recording. It’s this final song which poses the most interesting question on this great, but at times predictable album: what terrific noise could The Kills make on an acoustic album?
--Lou Thomas
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
The mixed reviews this album's got kind of put me off a bit to begin with but now I've bought it I'm glad I did. It's not quite up to the level of Midnight Boom but the stand out tracks are so good they would fit on that album easy. Nail in My Coffin thumps it out something fearsome and Baby Says has been in my head for days. The opening bars of Damned If She Do are pure Exile era Stones - I don't have a higher compliment available than that.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Kills return with their fourth album "Blood Pressures" which is the follow up to 2008's "Midnight Boom". So whats happened in the three years since "Midnight Boom"? Well Alison Mosshart spent the last couple of years singing and touring with The Dead Weather(jack white) and Jamie Hince has spent most of his time with Fiancée supermodel Kate Moss! There was even some doubt a while back if we would get another Kills record as Alison seemed happy enough to continue with The Dead Weather(not that the dead weather have broken up), but thankfully we have got another record as "Blood Pressures" features some of The Kills best work to date!
Where as last record "Midnight Boom" saw The Kills adopt a much more pop friendly sound than its two predecessors "Keep You On The Mean Side" and "No Wow", "Blood Pressures" is a lot darker, dirtier and heavier! That was evident when we first got to hear new single "Satellite" which is one of the heaviest tracks The Kills have ever done, the guitars are gritty, the chorus is big and bluesy. It was now clear that Alison's time in The Dead Weather is probably responsible for this new sound. The Kills set their intentions early on the album with opener "Future Starts Slow" which has a big drum sound(it starts out like the yeah yeah yeahs track "Mystery Girl" just heavier) and a shared vocal between Mosshart and Hince, It does not sound like a track done by two people and a drum machine, Hince's guitar playing sounds great also.
Track three "Heart Is A Beating drum" is one of the stand out tracks on the album that has a great blues riff and features a ping pong sound in the background that is also heard in "Nail In My Coffin" which is a song that wouldn't have been out of place on "Midnight Boom" and features loads of "oh oh oh oh oh's". Jamie goes it alone on the subdued "Wild charms" which works as more of an intro into "DNA" which is again grittier and heavier than The Kills ever were before. The ballad "The Last Goodbye" sung brilliantly with passion by Mosshart is a wonderful song that will probably see a lot of camera phone action.
The album finishes with "Pots And pans" a song that wouldn't have been out of place on the last Dead Weather album. "Blood Pressures" shows real progress on The Kills part, especially on Mosshart's(this is her fourth full record since 2008) part as she sounds like her time away with The Dead Weather has taught her everything doesn't have to be minimal. This is really a great album by The Kills their most ambitious to date and on this form you can only see them evolve more!!
Where as last record "Midnight Boom" saw The Kills adopt a much more pop friendly sound than its two predecessors "Keep You On The Mean Side" and "No Wow", "Blood Pressures" is a lot darker, dirtier and heavier! That was evident when we first got to hear new single "Satellite" which is one of the heaviest tracks The Kills have ever done, the guitars are gritty, the chorus is big and bluesy. It was now clear that Alison's time in The Dead Weather is probably responsible for this new sound. The Kills set their intentions early on the album with opener "Future Starts Slow" which has a big drum sound(it starts out like the yeah yeah yeahs track "Mystery Girl" just heavier) and a shared vocal between Mosshart and Hince, It does not sound like a track done by two people and a drum machine, Hince's guitar playing sounds great also.
Track three "Heart Is A Beating drum" is one of the stand out tracks on the album that has a great blues riff and features a ping pong sound in the background that is also heard in "Nail In My Coffin" which is a song that wouldn't have been out of place on "Midnight Boom" and features loads of "oh oh oh oh oh's". Jamie goes it alone on the subdued "Wild charms" which works as more of an intro into "DNA" which is again grittier and heavier than The Kills ever were before. The ballad "The Last Goodbye" sung brilliantly with passion by Mosshart is a wonderful song that will probably see a lot of camera phone action.
The album finishes with "Pots And pans" a song that wouldn't have been out of place on the last Dead Weather album. "Blood Pressures" shows real progress on The Kills part, especially on Mosshart's(this is her fourth full record since 2008) part as she sounds like her time away with The Dead Weather has taught her everything doesn't have to be minimal. This is really a great album by The Kills their most ambitious to date and on this form you can only see them evolve more!!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not sure I'll get another Kills album after this one, they're all starting to sound a bit samey. Might be me getting old though...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant
This is without a doubt one of my favourite albums. Simple but effective and full of top tunes. Punky, arty rock-n-roll. It's so good I'm lost for words.
Published 2 months ago by N. J. Taylor
New album from the meh meh mehs.
I heard DNA somewhere and it prompted my to get and listen to this album. Sadly it didn't live up to expectations. It is hugely repetitive and an exercise in style over substance. Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. Flecknell
Slow Pressure
Really fallen in love with 'Blood Pressures', their 4th album. Took a few listens to appreciate it, and now is one of the most played CD's in my library. Read more
Published 7 months ago by OsloCelt72
To kill for
Alison Mosshart returns to the day job alongside Jamie Hince as The Kills reconvene once more. It's all here, Hince's raggedy guitar-playing mixed with invention and classicism... Read more
Published 10 months ago by SMcQ
Not what i had hoped for
The Kills are one of those bands that i have liked since their first album and have enjoyed their progression over time. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Souldier
Has it's moments but...
The Kills have recorded some great garage rock/punk songs, unfortunantly not many on this record. Still full of some wonderful wailing guitar, and Alison Mosshart's vocals are as... Read more
Published 13 months ago by SJ
steady pressure.
it's not the best out put by the kills, but still very enjoyable.
perhaps a little less of the angst that featured the the previous ones which perhaps is key to the... Read more
perhaps a little less of the angst that featured the the previous ones which perhaps is key to the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by J. Fragstien
The Pressure Is On!!!
I have enjoyed The Kills since I first heard them two years ago, since which time I have purchased their back catalogue. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Steven T. Jarvis
Another great,unique album from a great,unique band
From the moment I pressed play I was blown away. I was worried that having a few years off, they would have lost their edgyness, but no. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Gaz
EASILY THE WORST KILLS ALBUM
I don't usually write reviews at all but as the current pair of reviews make this record sound brilliant I have to write something. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jonny
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