Scratchy, distorted and just about as urgent as it’s possible for music to sound, Kill It Kid’s second album begins with the phenomenal force of You’re In My Blood and immediately you’re blown off your feet.
The sonic blues squall continues on the howling Heart Rested With You and doesn’t really let up for the next thrill-packed 30 minutes. This is blues rock beamed down from a pre-punk era, but it’s also an album that builds on the macabre preoccupations of the White Stripes and the dirty, retro blues crunch of the Black Keys.
One thing it most certainly does not sound like is a bunch of early-20-somethings from Bath – such providence may concern, but their conviction is convincing. Vocalists Chris Turpin and Stephanie Ward may be from the West Country but they sound as if they’ve been brushing their teeth with bourbon since the Dust Bowl.
As well as getting the sound spot-on, the album also delivers the mammoth tunes their impressive debut lacked: Sweetness Has A Hold On is a blistering roller-coaster switching from pastoral, Polly Harvey folk to all-out heavy rock wailing, Heart Rested With You a veritable storm of Led Zep blues melodies. Terrifyingly good.
