Great Scott!
From the first plays of this album I feel a little like Marty McFly having been transported back in time to when music was simple and beautiful. There are many things with this offering from Kitty, Daisy and Lewis that is a little jaw-dropping, like the fact that this music was recorded recently in analogue; the band come from Kentish Town in London; they are a brother and two sisters act; their ages are 15, 18 and 17 respectively…
This here is their self-titled debut album which could’ve been brought back to the future from the 1950’s with it’s brand of R’N’B and Jazz, with added Rockabilly and a smidgen of Country for good measure! Made up predominantly of covers, and with the addition of a couple of the band’s own tunes, ‘Buggin’ Blues’ & ‘Swinging Hawaii’, what we get are three teenagers keeping alive the magic of a bunch of American minstrels from yesteryear.
First song, ‘Going Up The Country’ was originally a hit in 1968 for Canned Heat, and we have the plod plod of the double bass coupled with the deep piano chords and the barbershop singing over the top, with the addition of a harmonica every once in a while, all served up with a wink and a smile. Other highlights for the covers is ‘I Got My Mojo Working’ a song recorded by many but made famous by Muddy Waters in 1957, with fantastic vocals that are rich with emotion and that certainly should belong to someone a lot older! Then we have the exotic Hawaiian sound of ‘Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A’ with lap-steel guitar on their cover of Rudy Wairata & The Hawaiian Minstrels’ 1956 song.
However it’s when you hear the band’s own tunes that you see the real talent, as you can get people with an ounce of talent to recreate something, but originality is something you can’t copy. ‘Buggin’ Blues’ is one of those high tempo Blue’s numbers that could’ve been written on the railroads of St Louis, and K, D and L have recorded the music with a slight rough around the edges feel that it seems only right as an honour to this genre. Their other original song, which incidentally finishes the album is another Hawaiian tune and a totally instrumental ukulele-fest, and a nice end to the album.
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis could easily fall into a novelty act. In fact when performing they could be a band that people go all gooey over because of their tender ages, however the music here blows any false tags, or musical questions out of the water, as this is a real stonking good album. Yes, this is a dated sound, but that’s what it’s meant to be. Those great days are back again!