Buzzin Music Blog

The Kills – Tape Song – single review

The Kills: Tape Song

‘Time ain’t gonna cure you honey, time don’t give a shit’ sings Alison Mosshart on the new single Tape Song by The Kills, released on the 24th of November. The bitter rock song is back, and The Kills are doing it in their dirty, sexy way.

Taken from The Kills‘ third album (Midnight Boom) released back in March, Tape Song features Mosshart’s American vocals over British guitarist Jamie Hince’s spurting guitars.

Mosshart’s voice is double layered and breathy in the verse (almost like Madonna) whilst it cracks in the more wild chorus (more like Duke Spirit’s Leila Moss). Hince’s guitars, meanwhile, are sparse and the bass simple, before becoming Franz Ferdinand-esque in the chorus.

All of this is set over laptop drums, which finally break out into resonating snares as the other instruments explode.

The contrast in The Kills‘ Tape Song is fascinating, yet even more interesting is the way that despite the burgeoning  expression that the chorus promises, the mechanical drums and vocals never fully disappear, and always appear to be repressing full out emotion.

This all creates a resignation, echoed in Mosshart’s insightful lyrics and her poetic way of playing around with her own phrases  – ‘Tape ain’t gonna fix it honey, it ain’t gonna stick’.

Tape Song is backed by London Hates You, where the lyrics are less insightful, but where another, softer side of The Kills is shown, with the strong influence of The Velvet Underground becoming apparent.

Visit their MySpace. Tape Song is released on Domino Records on 7″ and digital download.