POP Montreal 2016 review: The Kills stay the same

The Kills
Metropolis
September 21, 2016

Bluesy art rock band The Kills delivered a predictable but well executed and received set last night at Metropolis as part of POP Montreal. Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart are promoting Ash & Ice, their fifth album, released this year after a five-year hiatus since Blood Pressures.

Starting exactly on time, they played twelve or thirteen songs – about half of them from the new album – and demonstrated clearly that although times change, The Kills don’t. Mosshart still looks great, twitching and whirling around the stage in jean shorts with a liquid puff of platinum hair, and Hince still has the same uniform and the perfect slouch. More importantly of course, they still have their talent, and although Mosshart seemed slightly more enthused about performing the new songs, she still commanded the crowd during classics like “Dead Road 7.”

The crowd swooned for “Baby Says,” busting out lighters and also clapping along. Generally songs from the new album weren’t as good as songs from Midnight Boom, the other most-represented album during the concert – but “Hard Habit to Break” from Ash & Ice was exceptional.

Part of the experience of The Kills is undoubtedly their aesthetic (Mosshart is also a talented visual artist), and little details like their silkscreen backdrop of painted volcanoes – presumably meant to match the album title Ash & Ice – or Hince’s beautiful guitar and gold-tasselled, camo-print robe – worn during the encore but also in the video for their new track “Heart of a Dog” – can still bring big pleasure.