At first glance, despite – or perhaps because of – their cosmopolitan glamour, The Kills appear to be a decidedly old fashioned proposition. Jamie Hince, he of the supermodel girlfriends and haircut reclaimed from the Cardiff Barfly’s 2005 heyday, still carries the same Lou Reid swagger, whittling the band’s blunt edges into something altogether more dangerous. Then there’s Alison Mosshart, her of the ink-black huskiness that made Jack White seem like the comic relief in The Dead Weather, a Nico in waiting. Fortunately for us, Ash & Ice continues to throw out all that lame, misogynist bathwater, while holding on to the rock’n’roll baby at the centre of their craft.
Matthew Neale 