Paperdoll (EP)

''Spit'' is the debut studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Kittie, released on January 11, 2000 by both NG Records and Artemis Records. Kittie was formed in 1996 and got signed by NG Records after the band approached Jake Weiner, the record label's second-in-command. After seeing Kittie play live, Weiner signed the group to NG during the summer of 1999. NG was then acquired by Artemis Records toward the end of 1999 and Kittie recorded ''Spit'' at EMAC Studios in London, Ontario during the summer of 1999.

''Spit'' was finished in August 1999, and radio specialty shows and the music press supported the album. Before its release, Kittie was featured in an '' MTV News 1515'' report. Although ''Spit'' was going to be released in October 1999, the departure of bassist Tanya Candler delayed the album's release to January 11, 2000. Music videos were filmed for "Brackish" and "Charlotte". The music video for "Brackish" and the music video for "Charlotte" both were played on MTV, with "Charlotte" being one of the most played music videos on MTV during July 2000. ''Spit'' was moderately successful, being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in October 2000 with, as of April 1, 2003, over 660,000 copies sold in the United States and over 40,000 copies sold in Canada. ''Spit'' remains Kittie's best-selling album.

During the days of ''Spit'', Kittie was influenced by many music artists, including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Silverchair, Nile, Today Is the Day, Placebo, Far, Weezer, Orgy, Fear Factory, Hole, Tura Satana, Human Waste Project, Babes in Toyland, Misfits, Blondie, and Nasum. Produced by Garth Richardson, ''Spit'' is a album with elements of heavy metal, speed metal, techno, alternative rock, rap, groove metal, alternative metal and death metal. ''Spit'', whose lyrical themes include sexism, hatred, ignorance, betrayal, bullying and life experiences, received mixed or positive reviews. Some critics praised the album's aggression but some critics criticized the album's song titles, lyrics and attitude. After releasing ''Spit'', Kittie went on tours with bands such as Chevelle, Slipknot, Suicidal Tendencies, and Shuvel. Kittie also performed at Ozzfest and the 2001 SnoCore festival. Kittie planned to tour with Pantera, but the tour fell through when Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo fell and broke two ribs.

Background and recording

Kittie was formed in 1996 when drummer Mercedes Lander and guitarist Fallon Bowman met in gym class. Mercedes' sister, Morgan, became Kittie's lead vocalist and guitarist after Fallon and Mercedes jammed for several weeks; Tanya Candler completed the lineup as bassist. Kittie chose their band name because the name "seemed contradictory". Morgan said: "Usually females are perceived as being cute, fragile and feminine, like the name Kittie. The contradiction comes in, when the listener hears what our music really is about: women playing metal". Kittie recorded demos and began playing dates in 1998. They played Call the Office and the Embassy, and signed up for Canadian Music Week in 1999. Kittie approached Jake Weiner, second-in-command at NG Records; when he saw them play live, Weiner signed them to NG during the summer of 1999. NG was acquired by Artemis Records toward the end of 1999, and producer Garth Richardson obtained the band's demo. Kittie recorded ''Spit'', produced by Richardson, at EMAC Studios in London, Ontario. Mercedes Lander said that ''Spit'' was recorded in nine days.

According to Morgan Lander, the songs were all written when the members of the band "were 14 years old". She said that Kittie was influenced by "bands like Nirvana, Silverchair and Alice in Chains". When asked about their influences in an interview with ''Metal Maidens'' in 1999, the members of Kittie cited Nile, Today Is the Day, Placebo, Far, Weezer, Orgy, Fear Factory, Hole, Tura Satana, Human Waste Project, Babes in Toyland, Misfits, Blondie, and Nasum as influences. The band wrote the music first, as a "backdrop" to Morgan's vocals. During the ''Spit'' days, Kittie was described as " Britney Spears meets Slayer". Despite that, during that time, Kittie was known as the "I'm not up there singing, ' Hit me baby, one more time!' We're a lot more mature than that," stated Morgan Lander.

Music and lyrics

Music

''Spit'' is a nu metal album with elements of heavy metal, speed metal, groove metal, , techno and rap. According to '' Exclaim!'', ''Spit'' "plays like an inconsistent collection of stale 1991-era Pantera and Sepultura B-sides, overdubbed with the occasional 1995 techno sprinkle for a somewhat modern measure". The album contains heavy riffs, rapping, screaming and clean singing. According to an AllMusic review by Roxanne Blanford, the album has a "meatier, heavier sound than contemporaries Limp Bizkit and Korn". According to Michael Tedder of ''The Pitch'', "''Spit'' echoes Helmet's precision, Slayer's power and (with some songs dealing with body image and self-esteem issues) even Nirvana's confessional songwriting". Author Tommy Udo compared Kittie's sound and attitude to heavy metal bands such as Pantera and Machine Head.

Lyrics

The album's lyrical themes explore "hate, ignorance and sexism", and AllMusic noted its feminist lyrics. According to George Lang of ''The Oklahoman'', "Kittie's lyrics are full of spit and venom, directed at preppy cheerleaders, rich kids, rude boys and women who trade on their sexuality". "Raven", according to the '' Sun-Sentinel'', "was inspired by a death threat received from a male band against whom" Kittie "competed in an Ontario talent contest." "Jonny" is reportedly a reaction to male domination of women, and "Paperdoll", according to Morgan Lander, is about the degradation of women as objects. Fallon Bowman said that "Choke" is "about someone telling you that they love you so much, and they put you up on a pedestal and make you feel great, then they turn around and say 'screw you. According to Morgan Lander, "Do You Think I'm a Whore" "is about not judging a book by its cover" and the song's title was given "basically to prove people wrong". "Charlotte" was inspired by a serial killer from the book ''Rites of Burial'' by Tom Jackman and Troy Cole. "Brackish" "is a commentary on a friend of" Kittie "and the relationship that she was in at the time". In an interview with ''Bleeding Metal'', Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman said the song title "Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)" came from an incident at a school talent show when, after playing one song, a teacher didn't like what they were playing, telling them to "get off".

Mercedes Lander explained the meaning of ''Spit'' title track: "People expect us to suck, then we get on stage and blow them away." The song "Spit" was inspired by the attitude of local bands towards Kittie. According to Morgan Lander, ''Spit'' is "a dark album, but it's about every day life which isn't always peachy". According to Talena Atfield, the album's songs are about "life experiences, basically. Oppression, people mistreating us, people putting you down because you're different, giving you a hard time because of who you are", which she said she experienced or saw in school. ''Spit'' was controversial because of its song titles, which made many people think that the album's songs are about sex. In an interview with ''NY Rock'', Atfield said that none of the album's songs are about sex.

Promotion and touring

Before ''Spit'' was released, Kittie was featured in an ''MTV News 1515'' report. In 1999, Kittie released a single for ''Spit'' song "Brackish". On May 31, 2000, Kittie was interviewed and performed on the talk show '' Later''. After ''Spit'' release, Kittie toured with Slipknot and, on July 11, 2000, released the home video, ''Spit in Your Eye''. Kittie began an American tour on April 27, 2000, with Chevelle, Shuvel and the Step Kings. Kittie then toured Europe with Suicidal Tendencies and performed at Ozzfest 2000, headlining the second stage. Morgan and Mercedes said when they were having dinner with their parents back home in Canada, they received a phone call from the representative of Ozzfest, being asked if they were interested in performing at the tour, requesting a press kit to review. When touring in England, Kittie received a phone call being told the band is officially involved in the tour. Kittie planned to tour with Pantera, but the tour fell through when Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo fell and broke two ribs. After the Pantera tour fell through, Kittie created a headlining tour and performed at the 2001 SnoCore festival. In 2000, Kittie released ''Spit'' song "Charlotte" as a single. On December 12, 2000, Kittie released an EP called ''Paperdoll'', which features a remix of ''Spit'' song "Paperdoll". The music video for "Brackish" premiered on MuchMusic the day ''Spit'' was released, and then the music video premiered on MTV by first appearing on MTV's '' 120 Minutes'' on January 30, 2000. "Brackish" continued to be played on MTV and was rotated on WAAF. "Charlotte" was played constantly on MTV, being one of the most played music videos on MTV during July 2000.

Release and reception

Release and commercial performance

''Spit'' was released on January 11, 2000 by Artemis Records. NG Records pressed 8,000 copies of the album. According to Morgan Lander, "Those 8,000 copies were gone in like the first fucking week". ''Spit'' sold over 100,000 copies in under three months. By May 3, 2000, ''Spit'' already had sold 236,473 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Although the album is not Kittie's highest chart position, ''Spit'' is the band's most successful album and the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 17, 2000. As of April 1, 2003, ''Spit'' has sold more than 660,000 copies in the United States. It has reportedly sold 100,000 copies outside of the US, and sold 40,000 copies in Canada alone. Although ''Spit'' was finished in August 1999, it was not released until January 2000. Before the release of the album, radio specialty shows and early press supported ''Spit''. Although the album was set for release in October 1999, the departure of Candler held the release of ''Spit'' until January 2000. In the winter of 1999, Candler left Kittie to finish high school. ''Spit'' peaked at number 79 on the ''Billboard'' 200 on April 15, 2000 and was on the ''Billboard'' 200 for 37 weeks. ''Spit'' peaked at number 1 on the Top Heatseekers chart on February 19, 2000 and peaked at number 2 on the Independent Albums chart on April 29, 2000. "Brackish" peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart on March 25, 2000 and "Charlotte" peaked at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart on July 22, 2000.

Critical reception

''Spit'' received mixed-to-positive reviews. ''Rolling Stone'' gave ''Spit'' a three out of five, called the album "fairly good-natured for an exercise in repetitive maximum aggro". Robert Christgau gave the album a C+, calling it "proof that Korn fans aren't sexist". Roxanne Blanford of AllMusic rated the album 3.5 out of five and wrote, "these young women learned well the lessons of predecessors Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and the current reigning queen of angst-rock, Courtney Love". ''Teen Ink'' gave ''Spit'' a positive review: "Kittie is a Canadian band made up of four girls who can rock, yell and keep up with any hardcore band out there". Phil McNamara of '' The Worcester Phoenix'' wrote that Kittie "can throw down heavy head-banging riffs with the best of them, and oh yeah -- they're girls". Also, Canadian journalist Martin Popoff is quite happy of a girl band which can rock "heavily and smartly", "sounding like vicious hardcore sirens" avoiding "electronic gunk" with only a slight nod to rap metal.

''The Oklahoman'' gave ''Spit'' a positive review: "Throw in the fact that they range in age from 15 to 18, and Kittie seems like the perfect weapon to smite Mandy Moore, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera, forever ridding the music industry of teen-pop". The ''CMJ New Music Report'' gave ''Spit'' a positive review: "the teenage babes in Ontario, Canada's Kittie will scratch and claw their way into the dark recesses of your hearts thanks to their debut, the smashing 'n' stomping ''Spit''". ''The Washington Post'' criticized the album: "All four members of this Canadian metal-punk band are women, which is still a novel (though certainly not unique) lineup for a headbanging ensemble. Too bad that's virtually the quartet's only distinguishing feature". The review concluded, "After four or five of these pounding rockers, Kittie becomes a bore." '' Exclaim!'' also criticized the album: "Guidance Counsellor's advice: pull the plug and stay in school". ''NME'' gave the album a four-out-of-ten rating: "Like kindred spirits System of a Down, Kittie want to give you the impression that they're just too tasty to fuk wit, too unhinged to view as normal folk, too pierced for the mainstream." ''Spit'' was number 24 on Metal Descent's "25 Best Alternative Metal Albums" list, and "Brackish" was on Fuse's "19 Best Nu-Metal Hits of All Time" list.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from ''Spit'' liner notes.

Kittie
*Morgan Lander – vocals, guitar
*Fallon Bowman – guitar, vocals
*Tanya Candler – bass, vocals
*Mercedes Lander – drums
*Talena Atfield – bass, vocals

Additional musicians
*DJ Dave – loops and beats on "Brackish"

Artwork
*Larry Busacca – photography
*Nicky Guilfoil – live shot
*Michael McLaughlin – photography
*Brandy Stephen – paintings
*Kitten – artwork

Production and directing
*Garth Richardson – engineer, producer
*Rob Nation – engineer
*Chris Shaw – mixing at Soundtrack Studios, New York & EMAC Studios, London, Ontario, Canada
*Matt Chiaravalle – editing on "Brackish", recording and mixing on "Paperdoll"
*Andrew Grimo – production assistant
*Ben Kaplan – production assistant
*Howie Weinberg – mastering with Masterdisk Studios, New York City, New York

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

Citations

External links

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2000 debut albums
Nu metal albums by Canadian artists
Albums produced by Garth Richardson
Kittie albums
Artemis Records albums