The Kills life and biography

The Kills is a rock band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart ("VV") and British guitarist Jamie Hince ("Hotel"). Their first three albums, Keep On Your Mean Side, No Wow, and Midnight Boom, have garnered much critical praise.

Jamie “Hotel” Hince rose to public recognition at the dawn of the hype surrounding the genre explosion of the early 2000s. Mosshart had been in the Florida punk band Discount and Hince in British rock band Scarfo. When these groups disbanded, the duo, who first met when Mosshart heard Hince practicing in the hotel room above hers, struck up a songwriting partnership. For months, the pair air mailed work tapes across the Atlantic; after this proved to test the patience of both artists, as it took days or weeks to get each others tapes, Mosshart upped sticks from her Florida home to fly to London.

Wanting to cut themselves off from their pasts, Mosshart and Hince considered their new project to be Year Zero in their careers, so they renamed themselves “VV” and “Hotel” respectively and began writing sparse, minimalist songs together with the aid of a drum machine. In 2001 they showcased their new songs on a well received demo tape. In true punk rock fashion, however, the pair shunned approaches from major record labels. Recording as VV and Hotel, they contributed the song “Restaurant Blouse” to the compilation If the Twenty-First Century Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent It. Shortly after this they recorded their debut release, the Black Rooster EP, which saw release on British indie label Domino Records and was picked up for distribution by Dim Mak Records in the United States.

Following international touring, they entered Toe Rag studios to record their debut album Keep On Your Mean Side, mostly on 8-track, in just 2 weeks.

Their second album, No Wow, was released by Domino records on February 21, 2005. Featuring an artier, less guitar rock sound, the record embraced New Wave and post punk influences and sounded even more stripped down than Keep on Your Mean Side. The first single, The Good Ones, was released on February 7, 2005 and reached number 23 in the UK singles charts.

Midnight Boom was released in March 2008. That month, Mosshart was featured in the critically acclaimed BBC comedy "The Mighty Boosh: A Journey Through Time and Space".The album found a lot of new fans through its music being used throughout many young American TV shows, including 90210. A big selection of songs from the album were featured within hit series Gossip Girl, and also, their track 'Sour Cherry' was featured as the soundbed for Season Two's official trailer. Sour Cherry also featured on the footloose trailer.

On October 21, 2008, "Cheap and Cheerful" was used on the show House during the opening scene of the episode "Lucky Thirteen". "Cheap and Cheerful" can also be heard on the NHL 09 soundtrack. It was later used in the Fendi's TV commercial for the "Fan di Fendi" perfume (2010). "U.R.A. Fever" was played during a love scene in the 2010 movie The Losers. Only the chorus of the song is played. "U.R.A. Fever" was heard in the 2010 film Welcome to the Rileys, as well as appearing on its soundtrack.

The Kills' fourth studio album, Blood Pressures, was released in April 2011. A video for the first single from Blood Pressures, "Satellite", was released on February 9, 2011. "Future Starts Slow" was also used in a promotion for the episode "The Wait Is Almost Over" of hit TV series True Blood (season 4). The song from the same album "Damned If She Do" was also used in the promotion of The Vampire Diaries third season, and has received positive reviews from the fans.

"Future Starts Slow" was also featured in a March 2012 episode of the Vampire Diaries.

Studio albums:
-Keep on Your Mean Side (2003)
-No Wow (2005)
-Midnight Boom (2008)
-Blood Pressures (2011)

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