Midnight Boom
2008 studio album by the Kills
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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]
| Midnight Boom | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 10, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Studio | Key Club Recording Company | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, garage rock | |||
| Length | 33:57 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer | The Kills, XXXChange | |||
| The Kills chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Midnight Boom | ||||
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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] "What New York Used to Be" was used in the film Push.
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] In 2009. It was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 30,000 copies throughout Europe.[20]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100[21] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [22] |
| The A.V. Club | B[23] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[24] |
| The Guardian |  [25] |
| Mojo | [26] |
| MSN Music (Consumer Guide) | A−[27] |
| Pitchfork | 6.8/10[28] |
| Rolling Stone |  [29] |
| Spin | [30] |
| Uncut | [31] |
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.[21]
Track listing
All tracks are written 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
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Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[33] | 11 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] | 66 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] | 13 |
| Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] | 9 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] | 70 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] | 68 |
| Dutch Alternative Albums (Alternative Top 30)[18] | 4 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[17] | 23 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[35] | 78 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[36] | 52 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 56 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 47 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[37] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200[9] | 133 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[12] | 1 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[10] | 16 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[11] | 9 |