Despite the critical appraisals flying from all corners of the critical globe (with the exception of your ever-discerning W&H, that is), we refuse to be taken in by this pair of chancers.
Sorry, but the desperate attempts to be scuzzy, garage-y and acceptable to the skag fraternity are enough to turn us off over here, and THE KILLS are hardly liable to get us onside by releasing one of the most one-dimensional tracks from their massively over-rated "Keep On Your Mean Side" album as their next single. You know the score with this one already: faulty exhaust-pipe riff...drones on in desperation, while VV (VV? Ferchrissakes girl, you're called Alison - get over it will you?) implores: "I'm not trying to wake you up!" Hmm...no worries on that score, really, is there?
But then they go and bloody spoil it! Just when I'm about to really enjoy stomping all over their skinny, aneamic asses, they go and cover Jonathan Fire Eater's brilliant "The Search For Cherry Red" as the B-side and guess what? It's fuckin' ace...all minimal, menacing and just dying for this makeover. For once, they really sound convincing here and when they duet on lines like: "Cut by love and carved by switchblade, he's been gone nearly half a decade", the goose pimples rise like crazy. No kidding.
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So maybe that's the answer: get the under-rated genius that is Stewart Lupton from the mighty, but deceased JFE in to write songs for them to smear their chilly blues all over. Then we could really take The Kills seriously. This time they get a reprieve...but for the imperious B-side alone, OK?
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