REVIEW: The Kills @The Williamsburg Hall of Music

rattlemag
Jun 10, 2016
3 min read

Tuesday evening of May 17th 2016, popular indie rock haven, The Williamsburg Hall of Music, is deep in the ligature of an audio inducement by a band of dual nationality known as ‘The Kills’. As thrilling as this may have been to the indie aesthetes of the favoured Brooklyn haunt, this is a group with enough variable flesh and blood to painlessly draw the interest of further flung genres. To start with, Floridian singer Alison Mosshart, (respectively recognized within her role to The Kills as ‘VV’) may well be remembered by some for being the vocalist for Vero Beach punk-rock outfit ‘Discount’. To counteract her evidentiary fire, the jagged melody and occasional minimalism of British rock guitarist Jamie ‘Hotel’ Hince, formerly of Scarfo and Blyth Power, is skilfully employed.

The pair bonded over a mutual respect for one another’s artistry following a chance meeting during Mosshart’s embarking of a European tour with Discount. Ultimately fate would spill upon their collective papers, spelling out the eventual decision on Mosshart’s behalf to make the transatlantic hop to join Hince in the UK, thus bearing the well blossomed fruit of The Kills as they stand today.

The duo combine everything from winding evocative guitar and strong contralto vocals, to just the right amount of spirited lighting, backdrop and stage play, in order to put on a killer show thoroughly redolent of everything that is relishable in rock and roll. If you’re finding it hard to catch your fair fill of post 80’s stage stomping, hair swinging, leather clad belters then a Kills show might just be the ticket for you.

No matter what your musical preferences may be, it is hard not to enjoy their performance, especially when it’s becoming rarer to find a band that are this much more stimulating outside of the studio than they are on record. There’s little room for doubt left in anyone who has recently experienced highlights in vein of the live likeness of ‘Heart of a dog’, a single from upcoming album, Ash and Ice, due out on June 3rd. Onstage Alison, torso bedecked in black and stars, is a ballsy loveable badass, and Jamie effortlessly assumes the effective role of a 6 string magician, making intelligently honed talent look effortlessly and agelessly cool. The band also display other new material, such as ‘Hard habit to break’ and lead single ‘Doing it to Death’ alongside older decoratives like ‘Kissy Kissy’ , ‘Sour Cherry’ and raucously loved crowd favourite ‘URA Fever’.

The energy proves an undulating high all night, resulting in the laurel summation of a crowd so addicted that they refused to move until Mosshart could promise there was absolutely no room left for further encore than what had already been served; a hotly demanded 3 song party she’d whipped up following her first faux curtain fall. Nevertheless, it still seemed to take a little convincing even when the house lights came back on. It’s probably a moot point to mention in conjuncture, but The Kills fan base is a solid presence both in reality and online, and if tonight’s performance is anything to go by, this tour and its banner album will just keep them winning more to that number.

The Kills have shown themselves to be the rock steady admittance to everything you want a concert to be.