Amazon.co.uk: Keep on Your Mean Side: Kills: Music

Perfect Partner

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

No Wow ~ Kills

(7) �8.99

Midnight Boom ~ The Kills

(5) �7.98

Black Rooster ~ Kills

No Wow [CD + DVD] ~ Kills

(2) �12.99

Oracular Spectacular ~ MGMT

(22) �6.98

› Explore similar items : Music (49)

Track Listings

1. Superstition

2. Cat Claw

3. Pull A U

4. Kissy Kissy

5. Fried My Little Brains

6. Hand

7. Hitched

8. Black Rooster

9. Wait

10. Fuck The People

11. Monkey23

12. Gypsy Death & You

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Keep on Your Mean Side, The Kills' debut, is a stark 21st-century blues album, the sort of thing that would have struggled to find an audience before the White Stripes broke into the mainstream. So it's lucky for them--and us--that they had such respectable coat tails to ride on.

Like the White Stripes, The Kills are a male-female duo--Alison Mosshart, aka VV, and Hotel, aka the bloke--and they play a music that's rootsy and blues-influenced, with a garage-rock edge. And that's where the similarities end. Sure, the Kills use a drum machine instead of a live drummer, but the differences run much deeper than that: The Kills peddle a dirtier and more sex-drenched version of blues rock, a result of the shared vocal duties of Hotel and VV, and most obvious on the sultry "Hitched" (I'll get my name stitched on your lips so you won't get hitched…").

These are songs that sweat sexual menace, recalling Boss Hogg's first album, or even early PJ Harvey (on "Superstition" and "Wait", VV's voice is a dead ringer for young Polly Jean's). Best of all, these songs are stuffed with hooks--"Cat Claw" and "Fried My Little Brains", in particular. In a sea of pretenders, the Kills could finally provide some genuine competition for the White Stripes. --Robert Burrow

Description
Debut album by London formed boy-girl duo made up of formerScarfo member, Jamie Hince and former vocalist of the mid-nineties US punk pop act, Discount. Their sound has been compared to that of The White Stripes, Royal Trux and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The album includes the singles, 'Fried My Little Brains' and 'Black Rooster'.

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

(14 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Debut of the year so far, 30 April 2003

By	J. W. Bassett (Kent, England) - See all my reviews

That a stylish, bluesy, cross-gender pairing is automatically compared to The White Stripes should surprise no one. If there’s one thing the music industry likes to do, it’s make statements like, “if you like band X you’l love band Y.” Well I guess there is some truth to the statement this time round. Fans of The White Stripes will find a lot to like about The Kills, but the meekly sum up ‘Keep On Your Mean Side’ as a wannabe ‘White Blood Cells’ doesn’t tell half the story.

So after their critically lauded but commercially ignored ‘Black Rooster’ EP comes this, The Kills debut LP. The music press have been harping on about The Kills for a long time now and aside from The White Stripes comparisons, they always mention how good The Kills look. Granted, aside from this record they seem to have a lot going for them: both VV and Hotel are achingly cool, the pair simmer with sexual tension, they use a drum machine and most importantly of all they have ‘the’ in their title. But the most important thing about The Kills right now is that ‘Keep On Your Mean Side’ rocks with a vengeance.

The opening guitar chug of ‘Superstition’ sets the scene perfectly, recalling ‘Rid Of Me’ era Polly Harvey. Future single ‘Cat Claw’ is just astounding; it’s a bone-shaking rock n roll record with an awesome hook. ‘Pull A U’ robs a Jimmy Page sized riff from ‘Kashmir’ and plies it lavishly across its three minute running time.

Like most debut records, you can’t help but think that maybe The Kills are trying a little too hard to impress at times. As VV sneers, “Fried my little brains” on the track of the same name. To put a track entitled ‘F**k The People’ on a debut record takes some balls. After the ‘Beautiful People’ esque drum sample at the beginning, it grows to become the best track on the album.

It’s rare nowadays for bands to live up to the hype lavished on them (think Starsailor, The Beta Band etc) but The Kills may just achieve it. For they are close to being a complete act after only one LP and the future looks absurdly bright for them. I’m not usually into this kind of thing, but take the voice of PJ Harvey, the guitar of Royal Trux, the mystique of The White Stripes, the cool of The Velvet Underground and you have The Kills. Fans of any of the above should consider this an essential purchase, and I defy any one to be massively disappointed by ‘Keep On Your Mean Side’.

Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?

(Report this)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

stripped down dirty sex boogie, 11 Mar 2003

By	Turner (Powis Square) - See all my reviews

....bruised trashcan dwelling drug taking low down punk rock n roll blues will fry your little brains. Stick it on turn it up and feel the primal guitar groove take you over. If your hips don't move to this then you're dead. The slower tracks recall velvets and that wrong side of town wasted glamour. The basic beefheart type riffing is what's making me smile. No thrills just kills....

Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?

(Report this)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

VV and Hotel rock!!!!!, 19 Oct 2003

By A Customer

Buy this album! You must. After hearing "Fried My little Brains" i bought it. The hooks on the album are endless, it will leave you singing along. My fave track is "Pull a U" it comes in with a great guitar and VV's lyrics. I must see them live. Buy it. Now. Its only a click away. Also the inlay of the album is also interesting to read and a change from the usual lyrics or pictures. It follows the story of them as if they are running from the law, and must be secretive, with bullet proof vests and all. Buy it now.

Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you?

(Report this)

› See all 14 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews