April 28th, 2008
Free Kitten
Yeah, we’ve been hearing a lot about these guys who just put out their first studio album in about a decade. That’s interesting and all, but do you know who else is putting out their first full-length recording in over ten years? Free Kitten! Yes, the same noise-rock superband (if there was ever such a thing possible) made up of Kim Gordon, Yoshimi P-We, and Julie Cafritz (sans Mark Ibold this time; gee, wonder why…) are returning with a new helping of gritty fun.
Yet while those other guys stuck to teasers and streams, Free Kitten has spread the joy of their imminent return with a downloadable mp3 entitled Seasick, a percolator of great off-kilter, discordant, grungy guitar work, squealing at times, completely fuzzed out at others, and poised-on-the-edge-of-dementia vocals. Listen close and you’ll feel this struggle for composure which permeates the voicework, which swells dangerously, with unmitigated restraint, to an angry breakdown, but stops short, refusing to go further, as if afraid of what would be found.
So yeah, bring on the noise girls! It feels so much like the 90s right now, I almost wrote “grrls.”