After seeing this rock duo play live at a festival two years ago, this reviewer was under the impression that the band was more focused on style than substance. It all seemed very clichéd and hard to engage with. But there were hints in that set that they had something of interest bubbling underneath their leather jacket exterior. So I investigated further by picking up their second album No Wow and was relieved to discover that they had indeed plenty to offer. Their blend of slick garage rock borrows a lot from the White Stripes – especially since the band is made up of a male/female combination.
Midnight Boom is their third full-length release and by far their best yet. It mixes snaking guitar lines with crunching drums, as vocals of a sleazy nature handle the sinister lyrics that suit the dark-tinged tone of it all. VV (aka Alison Mosshart) takes charge of most of the singing as Hotel (aka Jamie Hince) mainly focuses on the instrumentation side of things. With a lot of beats – electronic and handmade – going on in each track the tempo is kept at a high pace that breeds off a black heart that pumps at the centre of this creation. While it doesn’t drift towards goth-rock territory, this is an album that thrives off a fully charged recklessness that only makes sense if you are intrigued by the opening bars of first track U.R.A. Fever.
Once given time to evolve, numerous holes appear in the structure, lyrics, time signatures, and production. Although this is a band that ignore the rules and attack their niche with the type of abandon that the Detroit Cobras do so well. Everything feels like it is only seconds away from breaking out into chaos, which is the exact mood that Mosshart and Hince set out to instil with this album. Cheap And Cheerful, Last Day Of Magic, and Tape Song catch them on blistering form and are the best tracks on this entrancing album.
See Also: The Von Bondies – Pawn Shoppe Heart [Sire], The Black Keys – Thickfreakness [Fat Possum], Detroit Cobras – Tied & True [Bloodshot]
