Keep on Your Mean Side

Released in 2003, Keep on Your Mean Side is the debut studio album by the Anglo-American duo The Kills. Recorded primarily on an 8-track at Toe Rag Studios, the album is a cornerstone of the early 2000s garage rock revival, though it distinguished itself through a starker, more electronic-influenced minimalism than its contemporaries. The duo, consisting of American vocalist Alison Mosshart (VV) and British guitarist Jamie Hince (Hotel), utilized a vintage drum machine to provide a rigid, mechanical backbone for Hince's jagged, blues-inflected guitar work and their interlocking, often conversational vocal delivery. Critically, the album was praised for its 'cool' factor and its refusal to overproduce, with many drawing comparisons to the White Stripes and the Velvet Underground. It established The Kills' signature aesthetic: a blend of lo-fi grit, urban noir atmosphere, and a palpable sense of sexual and artistic tension that would define their career.