Fri. Feb. 3    

In the last few years we’ve seen a lot of the Killers, the continued and surprising presence of the Killer (Jerry Lee Lewis) and even a reunion by Killing Joke.

   However, the Kills, the noisy London based duo of singer-guitarist Alison Mosshart and guitarist-singer Jamie Hince, have been on the sidelines. Mosshart joined Jack White’s blues-rock project the Dead Weather and Hince, most famously, became engaged to supermodel Kate Moss.

   But the Kills, formed a decade back in London, have released their fourth disc, “Blood Pressures,” their first in three years. We saw ‘em last spring on a club tour that stopped at the soldout Royale and returns there again Friday Feb. 3. About half of the raucous 70-minute set came from the new CD.

   The disc is the Kills most expansive yet, with mellotron, piano and a backing choir, as Hince indulged his inner Roxy Music muse. But live, they churned out a minimalist attack, beginning with the ferocious duo, “No Wow” and “Future Starts Slow.” Hince’s guitar playing sounded like the aural equivalent of a vicious lightning strike.

     It’s jarring, primal punk-blues with staccato bursts of agitated notes and chords coming mostly from Hince, with Mosshart contributing vocal wails. Programmed beats on the drum machine provided a backing that at times gave the Kills a big, roaring sound and a tribal beat. (Mosshart occasionally moved to keyboards and kettle drums, Hince to keyboards.) The only real let-up from the onslaught was the first encore song, “The Last Goodbye,” a bleating ballad where Mosshart sang, “It’s the last goodbye I swear/I can’t rely on dime a’day love that don’t go anywhere.”

    The Kills are proudly old-school in a way, down to Hince’s My Bloody Valentine-like love of distortion pedals and their reliance on corded electric guitars. Mosshart was charismatic as a performer – pushing Hince across the stage during “Sour Cherry” – but there wasn’t any showbiz involved and little talk between them or to the crowd.

    What the Kills excel at is building tension. They don’t offer the kind of verse-chorus release most bands do. The closest they came was on their new single, “Satellite.” Mostly, the Kills’ sound is a series of controlled, welcome explosions.

Opening: JEFF the Brotherhood and Hunters. Starts at 7.

The show is technically sold out, but they’re available at various on-line resale sites with prices not astronomical – low $30s.