I have an embarrassing confession to make. When I was about sixteen, Kittie was my favorite band, and I was kind of obsessed. I mean, really.
That’s a picture of the wall in my room when I was in high school. All those pictures are of Kittie.
About the time I discovered Crass, I stopped listening to or caring about Kittie in a big way. I was probably eighteen at the time, and suddenly nu metal proved superficial when compared with the brilliant causes of political punk.
Anyway, the one aspect of Kittie’s older stuff that I’ll definitely still vouch for, is that it explores the way contemporary teens came into sexuality in a way that is unapologetic in recognizing the horrific and traumatizing nature of the phenomena.
That’s a picture from the liner notes of Kittie’s first studio release, and I think it’s pretty clear why this kind of imagery and subject matter felt so much less plastic to me than whatever else was going on in music at the time. The picture, along with the quite, is shocking. It’s complex. It’s demanding of interpretation. In the media, budding sexuality is so often shown as cute, whimsical, and exciting, when in reality, it’s often scary as hell. In my youth, Kittie was the musical voice who had the guts to say that.
So about a month ago, I decided to check out In The Black, Kittie’s latest release, which came out in 2009. I expected to hear mediocre nu metal that at least had a nostalgia factor, but was otherwise nothing to write home about. Surprise! It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, and it’s sort of grown on me since. Kittie’s created a more mature, solid metal sound that shows competence in songwriting and a more worldly view of life. It’s an album I want to tell my friends about excitedly. As such, I encourage any interested parties to give it a listen. Maybe you won’t like it, but hey, I think it’s pretty wicked.