On today's mix...
The Kills - Midnight Boom (2008)
The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing (2008)

UK-approved brats the Ting Tings and the equally CW-ready Kills are two flavors from the same pack of gum, and it seemed pretty logical to pair them up for a run.

The Kills declare their flavor on "Sour Cherry", and indeed, they're the darker of the two, with lead singer Alison Mosshart coming off like a sexed up Karen O. Though tracks like "M.E.X.I.C.O." and "U.R.A. Fever" hit the spot here and there, the comparison is an unfavorable one. The Kills never rock out as hard as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs--try as they might on tracks on "Tape Song" and "Hook and Line"--and as closer "Goodnight Bad Morning" indicates, they don't clean up as well either. Midnight Boom is a fun record, but you wish that the band would come alive and declare some of their own territory more than they do with this set of songs.

It's tempting, meanwhile, to say that Ting Tings lead singer Katie White comes off as Beth Ditto trying out for the All Girl Summer Band, but if the anthemic "That's Not My Name" is any indication, she would surely protest. The Ting Tings are simply having more fun, whether they're hiccuping the chorus to "Great DJ" or screaming at you to get off their shit in the Apple-approved "Shut Up And Let Me Go". While the Kills merely lament being the only "Sour Cherry" in the fruit stand, Katie White is taking some action about being treated like a "Fruit Machine"--blending Nancy Sinatra and Avril Lavigne to predictably fun results. Such a confection loses its flavor as quickly as an episode of Gossip Girl, and the charm is gone by the time you reach the overlong title track, but like Gossip Girl, it's pretty impossible to hate.

Neither the Ting Tings nor the Kills are likely bands that people will be talking about next year or even come the new fall line-up, but you could do worse for a run.

Midnight Boom - 4/10
We Started Nothing - 6/10