No Wow (The Tchad Blake Mix 2022)＜Black Vinyl＞

英国ロックンロール・デュオ、ザ・キルズ名盤『No Wow』が17周年を迎え新ミックスを加えたデラックス・エディションとしてリイシュー!

史上最強ロックンロール・デュオ、ザ・キルズの2ndアルバム『No Wow』が17周年を迎え新ミックス盤としてリイシュー!
UKの男女ロック・デュオ・バンドとして一躍注目を集めた本作は、パンク、ガレージ、ロックンロール、ブルースの要素を取り入れたクールなサウンドによって、2005年発売当時流行していたガレージ・ロック・バンドの域を超えた存在としてアラン・マッギーやプライマル・スクリームのボビー・ギレスピーが大絶賛を贈った。
また発売当時、ピッチフォークで8.3点と高得点を獲得している。今回のリイシューではオリジナル・ヴァージョンに加えて、The Black Keys, Fiona Apple, Arctic Monkeysらを手がけるTchad Blakeによる新ミックス・ヴァージョンの両方を収録した2枚組CDと、新ミックス・バージョンのみを収録した通常盤ブラック・ヴァイナルと限定盤ゴールド・ヴァイナルの3形態でのリリースとなる。

It's hard to believe that the Kills could sound even darker, tighter, and more stripped-down than they did on Keep on Your Mean Side, but somehow they managed it: No Wow is one of the most highly concentrated rock albums in a long, long time. In fact, its tight focus and barely relenting intensity make Keep on Your Mean Side's more traditional ebb and flow feel downright slack. The band's throbbing guitars, to-the-point rhythms, and sexy, dangerous lyrics have been simmered and tempered down to their barest essences, so much so that No Wow often feels like a stark, stylized caricature of rock. Less is usually more for the Kills, though, and they sound more powerful, more confident, and more distinctive here than they did on their debut. "No Wow" itself is a fantastic opener, a powerful statement of intent and of curdled but still compelling love (or lust), the likes of which hasn't been heard since Rid of Me's title track. From there, the album doesn't let up until the sweetly narcotized "I Hate the Way You Love, Pt. 2." Most of No Wow feels like monochromatic variations on the same sounds and themes -- monochromatic, but not monotonous. Wisely, the Kills have chosen to let their drum machine sound like a drum machine, giving songs like "Love Is a Deserter" a skeletal clatter for a backbone, and others, such as "The Good Ones" and "Sweet Cloud," a piston-like thrust. The magnificently taut "Dead Road 7" adds shades of menacing, mysterious country/blues storytelling to the band's songwriting, a direction they should pursue more. At times, No Wow can feel a little too compressed and high-contrast for its own good -- the album downplays the poppier moments that balanced Keep on Your Mean Side's onslaughts. However, since there are so few soft, slow songs here, they're thrown into even sharper relief. "Rodeo Town" is one of the loveliest, and grittiest, ballads that the band has written, and "Ticket Man" ends the album on a hypnotic, reflective note. And though Hotel's vocals are also downplayed (and missed), it has to be said that VV does a compelling job of handling the lioness' share of the singing. A tight, mean set of songs, No Wow feels like a fight going on in a closet -- there's no room for punches to swing, but all of the shoving and grappling makes just as big an impact. ~ Heather Phares

かのアラン・マッギーやボビー・ギレスビーもドップリとハマってしまったという男女ガレージ・デュオによる2作目。〈男女デュオ〉という共通項を持ったホワイト・ストライプスの〈激情〉とは対極をなす、重く唸るギターと淡々としたビートが奏でる〈氷のブルース〉。そして特筆すべきは、クールなヴィヴィのヴォーカル。その存在感はカレン・O（ヤー・ヤー・ヤーズ）にも匹敵する。一瞬で骨抜きにされました!
bounce (C)加賀 龍一