Blood Pressures

After recording two albums with the Dead Weather, Alison Mosshart puts her energies back into the Kills and there’s a new level of intensity to <i>Blood Pressure</i>. Mosshart adds an entrancing menace to the tracks. “Nail In My Coffin” with its dry, stun-gun guitars and walrus-like “oh-oh-ohs” is a masterful piece of determined tension. “DNA” bops with a garage-rock bounce. “Heart Is a Beating Drum” adds a seductive edge to the bounce. “Satellite” lurches like a sinister machine stalking its prey. “Baby Says” adds a driving new-wave funk that’s pure refreshment. “The Last Goodbye” is a sweeping torch song. “Damned If She Do” is a dark stalker with tons of street attitude and dark fuzzy notes that slip in and out of the mix. “You Don’t Own the Road” nods towards the swamp blues of PJ Harvey. Jamie Hince adds a cameo vocal on the quick and endearing “Wild Charms”. But this is Mosshart’s vocal show and she battles the backing tracks with everything she’s got. Which is considerable.