Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

Blood Pressures

The Kills

Blood Pressures

Fourth studio album by the transatlantic duo, featuring more blues riffs, dirty electronics and boy/girl vocals

ADM rating[?]

7.2

Label
Domino
UK Release date
04/04/2011
US Release date
12/03/2011
Listen on Spotify
Related Links
Last.fm Myspace Wikipedia
Share
Share |

  1. 10.0 |   The Skinny

    A leathery femme fatale massacre, the fourth LP from the roguish pair is sexy, sleazy and sassy
    Read Review

  2. 9.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Adds a certain humanity to their swagger, a product of their further experimentation with live instruments
    Read Review

  3. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    Blood Pressures screams. It's a fantastic record. A clanking, bluesy, sleazy, sexy thing. It could be clichéd, but it isn't. It could just be a retread of former glories, but it isn't
    Read Review

  4. 9.0 |   Clash

    It’s a bruisingly brilliant experience
    Read Review

  5. 9.0 |   Blurt

    Everything from motorik trance-rock and glutinous glam to ‘80s-throwback New Wave and mutant girl-group pop
    Read Review

  6. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    A compelling forty minutes
    Read Review

  7. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    For maybe the first time in their career, the Kills seem capable of not just one classic album, but many
    Read Review

  8. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The chemistry between Mosshart and Hince must be more intense than ever, because their fourth album is also their finest
    Read Review

  9. 8.0 |   The Quietus

    A discernable individuality, an untampered with, easily identifiable sound and, on Blood Pressures, a new-found ease at writing fully fledged, entirely believable pop songs
    Read Review

  10. 8.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    It’s just a bit darker, a bit moodier, and with it Mosshart has firmly cemented herself as a force to be reckoned with
    Read Review

  11. 8.0 |   The Fly

    It’s the kind of album that anxious 60s parents used to play backwards in search of corrupting satanic messages, such is its filthy tension
    Read Review

  12. 8.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    They spike their sparse blues-print with humour and humanity, dub grooves and Southern gothic flavours
    Read Review

  13. 8.0 |   The Digital Fix

    Blood Pressures is a real triumph - edgy, dark and fun it will please old fans and win them some more
    Read Review

  14. 8.0 |   Spin

    A more expansive sound from the London-based blues-punk duo
    Read Review

  15. 8.0 |   BBC

    At its best, material on this album matches the seductive, shop-soiled greasiness of early tracks like Fried My Little Brains, from 2003
    Read Review

  16. 7.6 |   Beats Per Minute

    Proves that they are more than just robots and distortion; the Kills are indeed talented musicians
    Read Review

  17. 7.5 |   Prefix

    Shows the band as an institution still worthy of adulation, mainstream or not
    Read Review

  18. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    Blood Pressures won't leave you feeling clean, but The Kills have found redemption
    Read Review

  19. 7.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    An absorbing and enthralling addition to the Kills growing catalog
    Read Review

  20. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    The Kills are back - still covered in dirt, sleaze and reverb, but with a cleaner, softer centre
    Read Review

  21. 7.0 |   NME

    Pretty essential listening
    Read Review

  22. 6.5 |   Bowlegs

    The Kills are great at what they do: this record will tell you that. But the moments when they reach a little deeper demonstrate they’re a band with unexplored depths
    Read Review

  23. 6.4 |   Pitchfork

    A return to the Kills' beatbox-blues origins as well an attempt to broaden their palette with more sensitive, intimate turns
    Read Review

  24. 6.0 |   Scotland on Sunday

    If only The Kills sounded as good as they look
    Read Review

  25. 6.0 |   The Scotsman

    Somehow all the charismatic swagger and talk of the musical heat between them doesn't quite translate into truly intense or explosive results
    Read Review

  26. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Finds them turbo-charging their sound, the familiar primeval bluesy rock combined with bigger grooves and almost Burundi-type drumming
    Read Review

  27. 6.0 |   Q

    They're better when they stop trying so hard. Print edition only

  28. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Raises only a steady pulse. Print edition only

  29. 6.0 |   Evening Standard

    They sound happiest with drum machine in walloping mode, powering such edgy rockers as Future Starts Slow, Damned If She Do and You Don't Own The Road
    Read Review

  30. 6.0 |   The Observer

    With one or two exceptions, on Blood Pressures they stick to their tried-and-tested blues-rock formula
    Read Review

  31. 6.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Blood Pressures works mostly because of how fully the duo believes in the junk they're spitting out
    Read Review

  32. 5.8 |   A.V. Club

    The Kills’ gimmicky aesthetic has never brought anything beneficial to the table; it’s only been a needless distraction hampering an otherwise-promising songwriting team
    Read Review

  33. 5.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    An album that holds so much promise, but never quite manages to follow through
    Read Review

  34. 4.0 |   Eye Weekly

    Without the hooks, Blood Pressures is reduced to a sluggish, forgettable mess
    Read Review

  35. Back to main chart

blog comments powered by Disqus
buy it at amazon download it from itunes

Watch it

Roll over video for more options

Hear it

Preview & download it

The Kills: Blood Pressures

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Future Starts Slow £0.89
  • 2. Satellite £0.89
  • 3. Heart Is A Beating Drum £0.89
  • 4. Nail In My Coffin £0.89
  • 5. Wild Charms £0.89
  • 6. DNA £0.89
  • 7. Baby Says £0.89
  • 8. The Last Goodbye £0.89
  • 9. Damned If She Do £0.89
  • 10. You Don't Own The Road £0.89
  • 11. Pots And Pans £0.89
  • Service provided by 7Digital

Latest Reviews

Iron & Wine  Light Verse

On his first album of new material in six years, Sam Beam mines the onset of middle age for sharp-eyed songs that are lively and relatively breezy, despite the melancholy subject matter Pitchfork

Iron & Wine  Light Verse

Light Verse turns out to be one of the most enjoyable, varied, and well-crafted of the band's records All Music

St. Vincent  All Born Screaming

Clark has more than earned the freedom she gives herself to express so many different sides to her music, and it's a thrill to hear her stretch out on these ferocious, heartbroken, and ultimately life-affirming songs All Music

More reviews

All-time top 10

Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.

  1. 9.3

    Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly

  2. 9.2

    Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters

  3. 9.1

    Kendrick Lamar Damn.

  4. 9.1

    D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah

  5. 9.0

    Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen

  6. 9.0

    Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure

  7. 8.9

    Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways

  8. 8.9

    Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree

  9. 8.9

    Frank Ocean Channel Orange

  10. 8.9

    Dave We’re All Alone In This Together

See full list