With the release of their first four, critically and commercially successful full-length albums, indie rock duo The Kills have developed an internationally recognized profile fora scuzzy, power chord-based garage rock, blues-leaning sound that’s been compared favorably to the likes of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and others — although this is despite the fact that the duo have publicly cited Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, LCD Soundsystem, The Velvet Underground, The Fall, Patti Smith, Suicide and Royal Trux as influences on their sound and aesthetic.
Ash and Ice, the duo’s latest full-length effort and first full-length effort in over 5 years was released earlier this year, and if you’ve been frequenting this site you might recall that I wrote about album singles “Heart Of A Dog” and “Siberian Nights,” two singles that reflected a thorough refinement of their sound as the duo paired enormous boom-bap drum programming, skittering beats, buzzing electronics, scorching guitar chords and anthemic hooks with Mossheart’s bluesy, cigarettes and whiskey soaked vocals to crate a swaggering and arena rock-friendly song that possesses a raw, insistent and urgent carnality.
Recently, the band performed a swaggering, boozy live version of album single “Impossible Tracks” on The Late Late Show with James Corden — and the live version maintains a fervent urgency of the album’s material.