Hear Kitten Roar

Chloe Chaidez of Kitten

Since I reviewed one of their first EPs several years ago, Los Angeles new wave band Kitten has gone through several big changes, including several alterations in their line-up to the point that it seemed Kitten had used up its proverbial nine lives.  The only consistent member of the band is the delectable Chloe Chaidez until it becomes very evident - Chloe is Kitten.

A singer-songwriter since the age of ten, she was opening for such highbrow acts as Conor Oberst and Band of Horses by age 12!  So it is evident that this girl has talent.

Her first eponymous album, Kitten, released in 2014, was a very strong start for this artist, showcasing her songwriting ability as well as her wide range of influences.  Many of the songs here are tracks from her previous three independently-released EPs, but they are a good way for neophytes to cut their fangs on her music.  This album has since been one of my favorite recent releases.

The album starts out with a track called "Like a Stranger", a song I have already, but has a definitive, danceable grooves that would make Madonna proud.  It right away makes manifest one of Chloe's greatest gifts - her voice.  She has the ability to run the gamut of emotions with her killer pipes - gyrating from soft whispers to throaty yells.  The next track is "Sensible", and it usually finds it onto most of the mix CDs and playlists I make.  Set to a heavy synth beat, Chloe shouts incomprehensibly into a megaphone.  The result is tantalizingly artistic and, well, very post-punk.  "Sex Drive" has an infectious, funky throb that really kind of reminds me of Duran Duran's "Union of the Snake", offset by Chloe's occasional piercing shrieks.  She demonstrates a refined pop sensibility with an '80s flair on such gems as "I'll Be Your Girl", "Devotion", and "Doubt".  Chloe goes all dream pop for the delirious and beautiful "Cathedral" and shoegazey "G#", two of my favorite songs.  But my real favorite is the subtle and haunting "Why I Wait" with Chloe's whispers set to chilling organ chords.

For some reason, Chloe left the major label and released this year an independent EP entitled "Heaven Or Somewhere In Between".  She has shown that she is, not only a great artist, but a shrewd businesswoman.  I have kept up with her on social media, where she has heavily promoted her EP.  (She even answered one of my emails personally.)  She followed the release of the EP with extensive touring this spring and summer.

The new EP follows a well-crafted well-crafted vision of dream pop.  The opening track, "Fall On Me", with its layers of different tones, is reminiscent of OMD.  There is definitely a heavy '60s jangle to many of these songs, going back to The Shangri-Las and other Phil Spector bands, and such is the case on the song "Church".  "Heaven" and "Knife" flashback to '80s bands like The Cure and early Depeche Mode respectively.  "Rapture", with its earth-shaking vocals, is a perfect example of Kitten's brand of music.

Kitten is certainly not going to disappoint with this collection of both album and EP.  In this day of cookie cutter music, I always revel and rejoice that pop music can be created marvelously and not have to rely on tired cliches and formulas.  Kitten will be around a while, because she has shown she can land on her feet.