The Terrifying Haunted Graveyard of Wandering Dead Record Reviews

AAAAAHHHH!
Ahem.

Well, as you may or may not know, being a freelancer, I occasionally generate stuff that for one reason or another never gets printed. Sometimes it falls through the cracks; sometimes there's not enough room in the publication; sometimes the tone or content just doesn't jive with the rest of the publication's material. For whatever reason, I end up sitting on pieces -- usually record reviews.

What I'm going to do is toss them up here for your reading pleasure. The releases they cover are a little old, but they're still worth checking out. Let's start with one from The Kills.

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The Kills

No Wow

(RCA/Rough Trade)

If you took away PJ Harvey’s antidepressants, she might make an album like No Wow. It’s the darkest, evilest non-metal album I’ve heard in a long time. Thing is, it’s sexy. Doubly so when you count the fact that it’s made by a boy-girl duo that’s more Jolie-and-Pitt than Jack and Meg White. Chalk it up to VV’s feline vocals (which may be too Harvey-esque for some, but hey, it’s not like she has much of a choice). Underneath, Hotel’s gritty guitar sounds like an overdriven bluesman. They use a drum machine for their rhythms, but they know how to make it sound driving and organic. Head-nodding, raunchy, slanky electro-pop.