By Wyatt Lester Posted October 3, 2012
My pick for this issue is a newer band called The Kills. This band has only been around for a few years but those few years have been filled with album after album of a unique and Rock-and-Roll fueled sound.
The members include Jamie Hince, nicknamed “Hotel”, (guitar and vocals) and Alison Mosshart, nicknamed “VV” (vocals). I know what you’re thinking, where’s the drums? Well, the duo has a simplistic drum machine requiring little maintenance and tweaks.
Years ago, Hince and Mosshart began exchanging recordings of self-written songs back and forth in the mail until they decided to make something out of it. Mosshart, having been with small bands before such as “Discount”, a punk rock band out of Florida, had a little bit of experience on the music scene. Hince had been in Brit indie rock bands like Scarfo, Blyth Power, and Fiji. Once they came together in 2000 they began to create great music right off the bat.
The band has released four studio albums including “Blood Pressures”, and “Midnight Boom” since 2003 and is still making great music. They also have released over a dozen singles and every release has positive reviews across the board. The pair has a power-fueled sound with Mosshart’s dynamite lyrics and Hince’s heavy chords; but equally intricate skill.
One of their best songs “DNA”, from their album “Blood Pressures”, is their exact sound in a nutshell. Lyrically it is about doing all you can without letting anyone tell you what to do. “Love, love, love till you got enough, dance, dance, dance till there’s no one left to hound you.”
Their sound is heavily influenced by The Velvet Underground and they have a similar sound to The White Stripes. Mosshart has the same passion while singing as Jim Morrison from The Doors. Some tracks even sound as if they were from The Doors themselves, but it only shows how deep this band reaches in the Rock-and-Roll roots of the world.
The two have a great thing going and I suggest everyone listen to them.
