A turn toward mainstream rock from the Kills

Now that the White Stripes are long gone and the Black Keys have expanded into a larger, swarthier ensemble, it looked as though the Kills - comprising vocalist/guitarist VV, also known as Alison Mosshart, and guitarist/vocalist Hotel, or Jamie Hince - would be left to sound the bell for skuzz-blues punk duos. Every release, from their 2002 debut EP, Black Rooster, to 2011's Blood Pressures, signaled that the pair were dipped in Floridian blues mud, then Southern-fried.

At least until Wednesday night at the Trocadero, that is. Before a packed all-ages house, the once-dirtball, rail-thin blues kids morphed into slick, slithering rockers more imbued with the flashy spirit of the New Wave (think Elastica or Divinyls) than, say blues-noise godfathers Royal Trux, which the Kills idolized at their start.

Funny enough, from the sexy sway of its set starter ("U.R.A. Fever"), to steamy show enders like "Sour Cherry," the Kills' new clothes (and pose) seem to fit better than their once shabbier style. There also was wild abandon to be found in the Kills that didn't seem to exist in the past. With two additional tom-tom-equipped drummers adding rhythmic heft and marching-band bulk to the night's proceedings, Mosshart and Hince were free to roam beyond their usual drum-machine pulse, with "Future Starts Slow" and "Monkey 23" sounding grander than their recorded versions.

Hince plays a mean, fuzz-tone guitar with occasional flurries of feedback. Though their occasional duets were solid, Mosshart's voice alone - a sneering, alto catcall - drives the theatrical swell of "Kissy, Kissy" to distraction (that tune being the start of a particularly potent run of songs such as "Satellite," "DNA," "Baby Says," and "Black Balloon"). With all that, the Kills turned their dusty blues red hot and shiny.

Another pair, San Francisco's Moon Duo, opened for the Kills. Far trippier and more expansive than the headliner (with a third member and a pulsating light show for extra psychedelic punch), Moon Duo's Sanae Yamada and Eric Johnson made eerily metronomic Krautrock filled with electronic noise and dramatic drones.