It is true. Alison Mosshart has risen from the depths of the London underground and back into the spotlight of contemporary female-fronted independent music. I can tell, however, by the blank looks on most of your faces that you have absolutely no idea who on earth I'm referring to.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane.
Five years ago or so, on the East coast, a bunch of junior high kids started a band. They wrote and recorded enough songs to merit a two-disc greatest hits and b-sides collection, and were picked up by a label on Fueled by Ramen.
In the late 90s, they were featured on a Fueled by Ramen sampler that mysteriously ended up on the tail end of an Asian Man Records sampler called Mailorder is Still Fun.
In 2000, they made an extensive tour with the Dismemberment Plan. People said the chick-singer looked like a deranged and possessed PJ Harvey crossed with a young Julia Roberts, who never stopped moving while on stage, not even between songs, and sounded like Fiona Apple on multiple drugs. They called themselves Discount, and they played an amazing set of indie pop like you wouldn't believe.
Now, three years later, and after Discount's breakup because of Mosshart's move to London, she's back with her new band - The Kills. The Kills began when VV (aka Mosshart) began writing to Hotel (aka Jamie Hince), but this method always has its production drawbacks.
So now, after putting out an EP titled Black Rooster, the duo is back (and this time on the same continent). The recently released Keep on your Mean Side is a sexy and raucous record full of minimalist pop songs, most comparatively toward The White Stripes, but even more so at times like Kill Rock Stars' Mecca Normal or Deerhoof.
Mosshart's London groove brings about a PJ Harvey-style masquerade most certainly, and Keep on your Mean Side is as good place to start for anyone willing to venture into the retrograde minimalist rock 'n' roll trend out there.
While the problem with a lot of duo sets is they don't seem to be able to fill out their sound and complete their own songs, The Kills have it down to a science - Hince's efforts far exceed Jack Stripes' any day and can produce better blues at the drop of a hat. While Elephant, the latest effort from the Hog White/Jack Stripes duo, has its bluesy highlights, The Kills' Keep on your Mean Side keeps a more traditionalist, Gossip-style appeal that the White Stripes ventured away from on their latest release.
It's a much different turn for Mosshart, to be sure. Discount was full of poppy punk endeavors, and at the time, her voice was very mature. Her tones are now almost unrecognizable to those of the past - her vocals patterns are much more refined and her underground intensity grows with each track on the album. Keep on your Mean Side also employs an at times brash series of effects, but they don't tend to overdo it.
Despite a few over-the-top voice tracks between songs and the sadness that Discount is no more (it still kills me every time I think about it), Mosshart's new project is a gem and a keeper. Keep on your Mean Side is truly a necessity for any Discount fan or fan of minimalist pop.
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