Review Summary: A clever album – a guilty pleasure with enough substance and style to really become addicted to it.
On “13 Above The Night”, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult are at their peak musically as well as lyrically. They manage to create a soundtrack to a late night downtown atmosphere with depraved, drug filled raves, dark sexuality and prostitution while still sounding evil when they want it. To this they add some characters: a satanic killer("Delicate Terror"),boy("Badlife") and a girl("Dirty Little Secrets") with a subtle story throughout the record.
Musically, they change the moods on every song, ranging from laid back acid trips like “Blue Buddha”, “13 Above The Night” to the stomping raves like “Final Blindness”, “Delicate Terror” and “Electrical Soul Wish” on which they add distorted guitars, atmospheric synths (from creepy to ambient) and diva vocals for a great diversity.
Also, their vocal samples have a bigger role here because they shape TKK’s view on the interesting, dangerous nightlife beyond its fun clubbin’ side. You can hear confessions on “China DeSade” like “ I was doing it because I was angry, I was doing it to feel the pain”, satanism on many songs, leaving attempts on “Dimentia 66” and desperate tries to make some money on the highlight “Dirty Little Secrets”- “ Don’t tell me to control myself. I mean, you don’t want me to control myself, don’t you?” (In fact the whole song has Lydia Lunch impersonating rather a hooker giving her “speech” for some cash, than a woman’s sensual come-on to a man).
Each song has its moment and the album never sounds dull or too much. TKK are at their best on songs like “Blue Buddha” with the groovy bass line and seductive vocals, the evil opener “The Velvet Edge” which really summarizes the whole record(With lyrics like “Cry me a killer, a boy and a girl/Rise from the ashes and escape from the world/Trails of fire lace the dreams in their heads/The soft touch of desperation on the Velvet Edge”) and “Badlife” on which Groovie Mann manages to sing about it and sound like you have to have style to be a part of it (“He talks in his sleep with the ultra violet kind/He feeds on the loveless in his sordid silent crime”).
In the end, it’s a place where you don’t wanna live or take part of it but you’d want to experience it for a night.”13 Above The Night” is a clever album – a guilty pleasure with enough substance and style to really become addicted to it.
This band really deserves more exposure. Highlights – “Badlife”, “Blue Buddha”, “Dirty Little Secrets”, “The Velvet Edge”, “China DeSade"
