Coma Comma Drama Come On

The Kills “What New York Used To Be”

There’s a lot of nostalgia in this song, but it’s all for memories of things that happened before one’s own time. It’s an idealized version of the past; this construct of representation and fantasy that only serves to highlight the perceived inadequacies of the present. The lyrics fixate on the past, but it’s a song about living right now, and being overwhelmed with disgust for what can seem like an all-permeating lack of vision, creativity, pleasure, purpose, you name it, and desperately wanting to reshape the world to match your expectations. There’s a feeling of intense concentration in the song, as if the two members of the band are actually attempting to build their version of the world with only a handful of sounds, and the sheer force of their will. Jamie Hince’s guitar textures, so brilliant throughout all of the Midnight Boom album, reach their pinnacle here, alternating between mechanical clanging, hints of synth pop, and a chugging, dense fuzz that evokes the image of slow-burning flames. By the end of the track, Alison Mosshart chants the title phrase with increasing intensity as if it were an incantation, and in that moment, it feels as though her vision of the city could just magically return, and be nothing at all what like New York actually used to be.

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