You have to hand it to the Kills. The duo of Brit Jamie Hince and Yank Alison Mosshart has gotten a lot of mileage out of a minimal combination of guitar, vocals and canned beats. Still, Midnight Boom, its third album, comes as a bit of a surprise. "I want you to be crazy, 'cause you're boring, baby, when you're straight," sings Mosshart in "Cheap and Cheerful," and while Midnight Boom isn't particularly crazy, it's never boring and certainly well short of straight. The key is in the pair's newfound funkiness, which is informed as much by early hip-hop as early Depeche Mode. A lot of credit goes to Spank Rock producer Alex Epton, but hats off to Hince and Mosshart for rocking the boat a little. The spooky trash of Kills past is alive and well in songs like "Tape Song," "M.E.X.I.C.O." and "Sour Cherry," but here the hooks are designed to connect rather than alienate.

-- Joshua Klein