The Kills Keep On Your Mean Side (Rough Trade) Rating: NNN Rating: NNNN
Now that Rough Trade has its very own version of the Strokes in the Libertines, it makes sense that it would try knocking off the White Stripes next. Enter the Kills, the dirty-blues-rockin’ male/female duo of Hotel and VV, with a similarly trashy aesthetic though showing a clanky Beefhartian bent. Wisely enough, the Kills anticipated the radio-friendly softening of the White Stripes attack and went for a rougher, nastier, stripped-down sound with Keep On Your Mean Side, which sonically puts them somewhere between the early Cramps and Royal Trux. Yeah, that’s a good thing. The parental advisory sticker is a nice touch.
