By Jesse Cataldo
Whether they’ll admit it or not, all drummers fear the drum machine. Sure, it doesn’t seem too dangerous now. It always sounds a little bit tinny, and it can’t do much more than play a steady beat, but who knows what the future will bring? All it would take is one technological leap for millions of drummers to lose their jobs forever. Don’t they have it hard enough already?
Even with the robotic replacement of drummers years away, The Kills have decided to just jump in and get it over with. Other than some tambourine, the percussion on No Wow is strictly machine made. While not unique, this is unusual, especially in the world of non-digital music. The realm of the drum machine is generally that of sterile, airy pop or the pounding thump of techno. Not often is it associated with blues-tinged garage rock, especially not as a replacement for an actual drummer. It’s not difficult to imagine the machine coated with temporary tattoos and dirt, a cigarette butt hanging from its console.
Besides the obvious fact that you don’t have to split profits with a machine, the little robotic drummer does have some benefits. Its pitch perfect cadence contrasts sharply with guitarist Jamie Hince’s jagged, fuzzy riffs. This combination seems promising at first; while drums often augment the size of the sound, the machine restrains it. Its monotone click on the title track puts a leash on the bulging guitar riffs, creating a tense atmosphere that seems about to break apart at the seams. The machine seems less effective on “The Good Ones” and “Murdermile” where its weak pops and snaps sound like a karaoke backing track next to the gritty pulse of the guitar. To add to this, singer Alison Mosshart’s PJ Harvey/Riot Grrl impression is lazy and predictable, not going anywhere that we wouldn’t expect it to. The lyrics, while better than average, continually grasp at a feeling that they just can’t reach. Mosshart’s attempts to tie the entire song together through repetition and subtle word switches on “Ticket Man” are so haplessly contrived that they barely make sense.
So what have we learned here? A drum machine cannot love. A drum machine will not provide an empty garage or basement for your band to practice. Perhaps most importantly, a drum machine can not save you from garage rock mediocrity. Although, to be fair, in this case, neither could a drummer.