The Kills

When Florida punk Alison Mosshart heard Brit pop bit-part player Jamie Hince's droning guitar seeping through the ceiling of her London flat she had to pop upstairs and investigate. Through a mutual love of scuzzy blues and low-fi punk, the duo adopted the pseudonyms VV and Hotel (aka The Kills) and adopted the stance as a rock Bonnie and Clyde - outsiders and lost souls producing dark, sleazy, nocturnal rock'n'roll. Signed to Domino Records, The Kills' debut album Keep On Your Mean Side (2003) earned comparisons with the White Stripes and Velvet Underground for its garage rock minimalism and art school experimentation, and the track Wait was used in the Alfonso Cuaron film Children of Men. Using drum machines and obtuse rhythms, second album No Wow (2005) produced a small hit with lead single The Good Ones and the pair went on to tour with Primal Scream, The Raconteurs and Arctic Monkeys, before the release of third album Midnight Boom (2009) - which referenced Kerouac and Doystoyevsky. Away from The Kills, Mosshart has guested with Placebo, Primal Scream and Last Shadow Puppets and now fronts The Dead Weather with Jack White.