Midnight Boom

Midnight Boom
Studio album by The Kills
Released March 10, 2008
Recorded 2007
Studio Key Club Recording Company
Length 33:57
Label Domino
Producer The Kills, XXXChange
The Kills chronology

No Wow
(2005)		 Midnight Boom
(2008)		 Blood Pressures
(2011)
Singles from Midnight Boom
  1. "U.R.A. Fever"
    Released: December 3, 2007
  2. "Cheap and Cheerful"
    Released: February 25, 2008
  3. "Last Day of Magic"
    Released: June 15, 2008
  4. "Tape Song"
    Released: November 16, 2008
  5. "Black Balloon"
    Released: March 22, 2009

Midnight Boom is the third album by indie rock band The Kills, released on March 10, 2008, through Domino Records (March 17, 2008, in the United States). It was recorded at the Key Club Recording Company in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The title refers to the hours from midnight to 6 a.m., in which the band was at the creative peak, writing material for the album.[1]

Promotion

"U.R.A. Fever" was released as the lead single from the album on December 3, 2007.[2] The second single, "Cheap and Cheerful", was released on February 25, 2008.[3] "Last Day of Magic" was released as the third single on June 15, 2008[4] Two final singles from the album were "Tape Song", released on November 16, 2008,[5] and "Black Balloon", released on March 22, 2009.[6] Both songs have charted in France.

"Sour Cherry" was featured on an episode of the TV series Gossip Girl, and became popular.[7] "Sour Cherry" was also featured in The House Bunny.[8]

Commercial performance

Midnight Boom was the band's first album that charted on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., peaking at number 133.[9] It has also charted at number 16 on the Independent Albums,[10] number 9 on Top Tastemaker Albums,[11] and topped the Top Heatseekers Albums chart.[12] In Europe, it reached number 47 on the UK Albums Chart,[13] and has also charted in Austria,[14] Belgium,[15][16] France,[17] the Netherlands[18] and Switzerland.[19]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 75/100[20]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [21]
Robert Christgau A-[22]
Drowned In Sound 8/10[23]
Gigwise [24]
Irish Independent [25]
Pitchfork 6.8/10[26]
Popmatters 8/10[27]
Rolling Stone [28]
URB [29]
Uncut [30]

The album received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 31 reviews.[20]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by The Kills. 

No. Title Length
1. "U.R.A. Fever"   2:16
2. "Cheap and Cheerful"   2:26
3. "Tape Song"   3:35
4. "Getting Down"   2:55
5. "Last Day of Magic"   3:21
6. "Hook and Line"   2:03
7. "Black Balloon"   3:46
8. "M.E.X.I.C.O."   1:37
9. "Sour Cherry"   3:07
10. "Alphabet Pony"   1:45
11. "What New York Used to Be"   3:15
12. "Goodnight Bad Morning"   3:52
13. "Night Train" (UK Download Bonus Track) 3:04

Personnel

The Kills
Technical personnel[31]

Charts

Charts (2008) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 66
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 70
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[18] 68
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 56
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 47
US Billboard 200[9] 133
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[12] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[10] 16
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[11] 9

References

  1. ↑ Colothan, Scott (December 19, 2007). "The Kills Explain 'Midnight Boom' Album Title". Gigwise. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ "U.R.A. Fever - Single by The Kills". iTunes (GB). Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Cheap and Cheerful - Single by The Kills". iTunes (GB). Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Last Day of Magic - EP by The Kills". iTunes (GB). Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Tape Song - Single by The Kills". iTunes (GB). Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Black Balloon - EP by The Kills". iTunes (GB). Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Sour Cherry Lyrics - The Kills - TV Fanatic". Gossipgirlinsider.com. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ "The House Bunny (2008) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Kills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for The Kills. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "The Kills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Independent Albums for The Kills. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Kills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums for The Kills. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "The Kills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums for The Kills. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Kills | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "The Kills – Midnight Boom". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Midnight Boom Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ Phares, Heather. Midnight Boom at AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
  22. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Artist 4968". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ Webb, Rob (March 11, 2008). "Album Review: The Kills - Midnight Boom". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  24. ↑ Shaw, Natalie (February 26, 2008). "The Kills - 'Midnight Boom' (Domino) Released 10/03/08". Gigwise. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  25. ↑ "CD Review: The Kills * * * *". Irish Independent. March 7, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  26. ↑ Crock, Jason (March 20, 2008). "The Kills Midnight Boom > Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  27. ↑ Jones, Kai (March 16, 2008). "The Kills: Midnight Boom". Popmatters. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  28. ↑ Hoard, Christian (March 18, 2008). "The Kills Midnight Boom > Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  29. ↑ URB review
  30. ↑ Uncut review
  31. ↑ "Midnight Boom - The Kills | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 6, 2014.