The Kills: No Wow

(Herald rating: * * * *)

After the first couple of listens you have to ask if Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart have moved on since their excellent 2003 debut, Keep On Your Mean Side - a sexy, minimal blues punk rocker of an album.

There's nothing wrong with the fact that they haven't - The Kills being a combination of PJ Harvey playing a gig with the White Stripes is just fine. But there is a telling moment on No Wow when the Lucinda Williams-like ditty of Rodeo Town, with Mosshart's sweet slurs and Hince's gentle thrumming, makes them more than just a PJ Harvey soundalike band. The standout track, Murdermile, featuring a vocal duel between the two, and low-end guitar lear-ups, seals it: The Kills are cool.

Elsewhere, Love Is A Deserter, with Mosshart's breathy "get the guns out, get the guns out", the distorted blues fuzz of The Good Ones, and the freaked-out discord of At the Back of the Shell make for a less showy album than Jack and Meg White - it's more of a sleazy swagger.

There's something romantic about a boy and girl two-piece. And the chemistry between these two is stunning on record, so just imagine it on stage. You better be hoping they're coming to a town near you.

Label: Domino