Threateningly cutting into the silence in “Spank Me” or crushing a dirge in the groove-laden “Struggle,” Vicious Kitty’s self-titled album presents listeners with such a fetching and addictive tracklist that temptations to play it from start to finish are often too strong to be resisted. There’s rich unevenness to the construction of brooding rock tunes like “Sweet Memories” and the progressive “Looking Glass,” but it’s as captivating a find as the steadiness of “Mr. Darkness” or the classic “Freedom” is.
Whether they’re juggling oddities with subtle metal influences (“Bangkok City”) or just reinventing songcraft for a generation still quite eager to have their rockers to worship (“Innocent Girl”), Vicious Kitty sounds like a group with an unmistakable trademark sound in this LP, and it’s one that I doubt any credible music critic is going to dismiss this summer. Theirs is a one-of-a-kind look if you’re ever going to see one in 2024, but it comes to us not as fiercely anti-everything as it is committed to telling the tales of these musicians and no one else.
The guitar parts are the most dominant component of charisma in Vicious Kitty, and in “Alone” or “No More Waitin’,” they set up an emotional foundation that no linguistics ever could have on their own. When words can’t do a narrative justice, this isn’t the sort of band that will turn to the typical ribbonry a lot of their peers might, but instead the tempered ferocity of the instrumentation as it stands without the lens of expensive producing to get in the way.
There are blues elements to the songwriting style Vicious Kitty employs that I would love for them to explore just a little more than they already have, as it could bring some of the more menacing attributes to the build-on “Mr. Darkness” out of the woodwork where we can appreciate what they can do. This group’s riveting use of tonal contrast in Vicious Kitty had my heart from the very first time I listened to the entire tracklist forward, but if coupled with some sharpening of the other areas in their sound, this act could become downright unstoppable.
I only just found out about Vicious Kitty the other day, having never listened to their previous work when it was originally released, but having now been made aware of their stellar talents, I’m shocked they haven’t already attracted mainstream hype. Vicious Kitty will admittedly dissuade the casual hard rock crowd from taking much interest in the band, but for those of us who put a lot of stock in organic songwriting and experimental heavy rock themes that aren’t just cosmetic lip service, what Vicious Kitty is developing in the studio could be one of the most spellbinding treats around in 2024.
I do not recommend taking my word on this alone; if you haven’t already heard Vicious Kitty for yourself, its ten stellar songs make for one of the more inspired soundtracks to any summer day. Rock might be underground again, but this is a sound that can’t stay contained from the masses.
Mindy McCall
