The Kills “Blood Pressures”

They’ve done good to last this long, at least. Four albums in and they’re still a mix of pretension and enthusiasm – once upon a time they were awash in the mess of wannabe bad-boy rock bands circa 2003, now they’re one of the few left. Dropping the electrobeats of Midnight Boom for buffed Rolling Stones riffs, Blood Pressures is stronger in areas than much of their previous work, but this one still lacks a cohesiveness that should be coming easy to them by now. Where they excel on opening track ‘Future Starts Now’, they flounder on the worn-out rock cliches of ‘Heart Is A Beating Drum’. ‘DNA’ and it’s follow-up ‘Baby Says’ provide a nice mid-point for the album but it’s hard to ignore the compassionless Mosshart-led ‘The Last Goodbye’. Do your best to avoid the filler. [C+]