Kitty,
Daisy & Lewis Kitty, Daisy & Lewis [album]
“Would
you expect modern London
teenagers to admire 50s-style music
enough to record a revival album of
the era? Well they do and they have —
siblings Kitty, Daisy & Lewis just love
that sound...”
PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ to a new generation, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis has
meticulously blended an essence of Blues, Swing, Honky-Tonk, Country and Rock
'n' Roll to produce a well-timed, self-titled album that slots
neatly into the resurgence of interest in the Fabulous Fifties.
In 2003, the now fifteen-year-old Kitty, eighteen-year-old Daisy and Lewis,
17, were together onstage for the first time at a country and rockabilly jam
in a North London pub. Five years on, the family that is obsessed with the music,
fashion and technology of the 50s has built a massive word-of-mouth audience
through a number of well-received gigs and festival appearances.
And now Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, the album, is ready to be released on Rob
da Bank's Sunday Best label, giving a well-deserved boost to the 50s Revival.
Most self-respecting young North London teen bands would doubtless be spending
an inordinate amount of time filling their iPhones with remixes downloaded from
blogs, rather than cutting their tunes onto 78s.
But Kitty, Daisy & Lewis is no ordinary band. Multi-instrumentalists, between
them they play guitar, piano, banjo, lap steel guitar, harmonica, double bass,
ukulele, trombone and accordion. The band's album has been recorded in glorious,
utterly digital-free analogue by Lewis and his father Graeme in their Kentish
Town home studio.
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis belt out every track with the flavour of yesterday like
there was no tomorrow, capturing the sounds of the 50s as if they had been living
in America in the middle of the last century — they shake, rattle and roll
with the gusto of Bill Haley.
Living, breathing and speaking passionately of the music they play, Lewis —
when he's not recording with his sisters — DJs, collects and even cuts
his own 78rpm records himself. It is this obsessive passion for the vintage
music that inspires their performances and led to their compilation A to
Z — Kitty, Daisy & Lewis — The Roots Of Rock 'n' Roll being named
one of The Guardian's 2007 'Albums Of The Year — 5/5'.
The publicity machine says: "No dry exercise in musical luddism, their debut
album swings with the passion, intensity and sheer exuberant joie de vivre that
makes their live shows one of the UK gig circuit's greatest and most innocent
pleasures.
"Recorded between school and college duties, the album is a mixture of the covers
their dad used to sing to them when they were children, together with new material
like the heart torn Buggin' Blues, written by Lewis and inspired by the
late, great Otis Spann (Chess Records).
"The album leads with the new single Going Up The Country, a perfectly
rounded summer holiday feel-good jam, full of harmonica solos, handclaps and
lyrics about leaving the city smog for fairer country hills."
Going Up The Country is a favourite, full of life and energy; a song
that takes you back to the best boogy-ing days of flat shoes, flirty swing skirts
and jiving at the local Palais. You can imagine walking barefoot up a dirt track
in the US, heading out towards the wide open spaces of the wild country.
Buggin' Blues reminded me initially of early Elvis but turned into a Billie
Holliday/Aretha Franklin-style sound.
The album incorporates terrific honky-tonk sounds and outstanding banjo strings
and Hillbilly Music is delightful, offering the opportunity to exercise
those strings to great effect. Swinging Hawaii and Honolulu Rock-A
Roll-A take you back to that great island sound created by Elvis in Blue
Hawaii. The band's version of Muddy Waters' I Got My Mojo Working is
creditable.
Watch out for Kitty, Daisy & Lewis as the band tours the festival circuit showcasing
their album. The 50s is back but it is given a sound that is as young and fresh
as the three siblings behind the music. Dig out those jiving shoes…
• Kitty, Daisy & Lewis' self-titled album
will be released on 1 September (2008) on Sunday Best.
Tracklisting — 1 Going Up The Country | 2 Buggin' Blues
| 3 Polly Put The Kettle On |
4 Honolulu Rock-A Roll-A | 5 I Got My Mojo Working | 6 Mean
Son Of A Gun | 7 Hillbilly Music | 8 Mohair Sam | 9 Ooo
Wee | 10 Swinging Hawaii
Check out myspace.com/kittydaisyandlewis,
sundaybest.net and Kitty, Daisy
& Lewis' In The Studio
video.
"Their musicianship would put several older groups to shame" — Independent
on Sunday
"The sound of yesteryear, but also a band for the future" — NME
"Puttin' on the Ritz to a new generation, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis has meticulously
blended an essence of Blues, Swing, Honky-Tonk, Country and Rock 'n' Roll to
produce a well-timed, self-titled album that slots neatly into the resurgence
of interest in the Fabulous Fifties" — MotorBar
