MIDNIGHT IN THE SUN

Since the release of their first EP, in 2002, the Kills have presented music journalists with an irresistible package: gorgeous American girl (Alison Mosshart) and dangerous-looking British bloke (Jamie Hince) live and work together in a London update of Andy Warhol's Factory. They sleep all day, rock all night, and—in a twist any TV writer can appreciate—keep their relationship strictly platonic. Let the mall rats have the Killers; we hacks will take the Kills! There's just one problem. Now that Hince is going out with shambolic supermodel Kate Moss, the band has come to the attention of a less forgiving breed of ink-stained wretches: the ones who work for The Sun and the Daily Mail. Fortunately, the Kills' new album, Midnight Boom (Domino), is capable of standing up to the harshest scrutiny. Perhaps tired of comparisons to that other blues-rock duo, the group has diversified its influences, which range from Dostoyevsky to Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, a 1967 documentary about patty-cake games. Hince traded in the skewed guitar riffs for beats from a Run DMC~era drum machine, and if Mosshart still sounds like PJ Harvey on a track or two, well, that ain't a bad thing. Does "tabloid notoriety" plus "awesome album" equal "world domination"? Mosshart isn't so sure. "I really, really love this record, so do want a lot of people to hear it," she says, "but I don't want any unfair advantages." Download now: "U.R.A. Fever," "Cheap and Cheerful."