Spit (album)

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Spit
File:Spitalbumcover.jpg
Studio album by Kittie
Released January 11, 2000[1][2]
Recorded 1999, EMAC Recording Studios,[3] London, Ontario
Genre Nu metal
Length 37:23
Label Artemis[4]
Producer Garth Richardson[5]
Kittie chronology
Spit
(1999)		 Oracle
(2001)
Singles from Spit
  1. "Brackish"
    Released: March 13, 2000
  2. "Charlotte"
    Released: July 10, 2000
  3. "Paperdoll"
    Released: December 12, 2000

Oracle2001

Spit is the debut album by the heavy metal band Kittie. Although the album is not Kittie's biggest chart success, Spit remains their most successful album, being certified gold by the RIAA[6] on October 17, 2000.[4] The album has sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States and at least 40,000 copies in Canada.[7] Although the album was finished in August 1999, it wasn't released until January 2000 because a long setup time for the album was wanted. During around this time, radio specialty shows and early press were supporting the album.[8]

Lyrical themes and background

Although bassist Talena Atfield (pictured in this image) is with Kittie on Spit's album cover, Tanya Candler actually played bass on Spit.[9] Candler left Kittie and was replaced by Atfield.[10]

The album's lyrical themes are about topics such as hatred, ignorance and sexism.[11] Allmusic noted the album's pro-feminism lyrical themes.[2] The song "Jonny" is said to be a reaction to men dominating over women.[12] "Paperdoll" is about the degradation of women as objects.[12] "We want to destroy the idea that a lot of men see women as blowup dolls. We want to break that, because we're better than that," says Morgan Lander.[13] The song "Choke" is an emotional response to betrayal. "That song's 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,'" says Fallon Bowman.[13] Mercedes Lander explained the meaning of the song "Do You Think I'm a Whore" saying

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That's about the way that I perceive myself and the way other people tend to perceive me. There are times that I really don't think that people get what we're doing and understand where we're coming from. We're girls, playing in a guys business...[13]

Morgan Lander explained the meaning on the song "Do You Think I'm a Whore", saying "the song is about not judging a book by its cover and digging deeper into the substance to reveal that ... things aren’t what they seem. The title is like that basically to prove people wrong”.[11] Mercedes Lander explained the meaning of the album Spit's title track, which she says is her favorite song on the album, saying "People expect us to suck, then we get on stage and blow them away. One minute they're just standing there, then their mouths drop open and their dicks feel small."[13][14] The song "Spit" was inspired by attitudes local bands had towards Kittie.[11]

Musical style and influences

Spit is a nu metal album[15][16] that features elements of heavy metal,[1] groove metal,[17] alternative metal,[17] alternative rock,[18] death metal,[1][13][19][20] techno[13][5][2] and hip-hop.[16] Exclaim.ca said that the album "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."[5] Spit has characteristics such as heavy riffs,[17] rapping,[16] clean singing and screaming.[21] Allmusic said that the album brandishes a "meatier, heavier sound than contemporaries Limp Bizkit and Korn".[2]

Kittie member Morgan Lander noted that the songs were "all written when we were 14 years old." She noted that Kittie was largely influenced by alternative music, listing "bands like Nirvana, Silverchair and Alice in Chains" as major influences. The band wrote the music first to serve as a "backdrop" to Morgan's vocals.[22]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[2]
Robert Christgau C+[23]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[24]

Spit received mixed to positive reviews. Rolling Stone gave the album a 3 out of 5 saying <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"The four gothed-out ontario teenagers of Kittie are spitting mad -- as the title of their debut album indicates -- but, being high schoolers as well as Canadians, they're mad at nothing in particular. This makes the earnest Spit fairly good-natured for an exercise in repetitive maximum aggro."[24]

Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ and said "Proof that Korn fans aren't sexist--they were just waiting for four cute teenage girls to come out bellowing "Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)." Waiting so eagerly, in fact, that whether the girls bellowed loud enough was beside the point." Roxanne Blanford of Allmusic gave the album a 3.5 out of 5 and a positive review saying <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"These 12 emotionally brutal tracks exhibit high degrees of angry, brash, pro-feminist declarations, proving these young women learned well the lessons of predecessors Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and the current reigning queen of angst-rock, Courtney Love. Kittie bites just as hard as the boys, as evidenced in the steely guitar churn of "Brackish" and the caustic burn of "Raven," wherein Morgan Lander's grating vocals shatter all illusions that women can't spew rock venom with the best of them."[2]

Teen Ink gave the album an extremely positive review saying <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"Kittie is a Canadian band made up of four girls who can rock, yell and keep up with any hardcore band out there. Ranging in age from 15 to 18, you'd think they'd sing about love and boys like the rest of the female pop artists most American teens listen to, but when I listened to the title track, I was surprised that their throat, bass lines and dark melodies reminded me of the good old days of hardcore rock. It is a breath of fresh air to hear Kittie sing about things they hate and people they can't stand. That may sound harsh, but I know I'm not the only one sick of the happy, superficial music out there. With Kittie, one minute you'll hear the gorgeous, soothing voice of lead singer Morgan Lander, the next you'll be startled, but impressed, by her scream, "Stay away from me, Get away from me.""[21]

The CMJ New Music Report made a positive review of the album writing content such as "So, you think Josie & the Pussycats are the quintessential chicks who rock with reckless abandon, huh? Well, 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" and "Kittie is the band that your kid sister will happily adopt when she rebels and grows outta her Backstreet Boys phase. Me-fucking-ow."[1]

The album was put at number 24 on Metal Descent's list called "The 25 Best Alternative Metal Albums".[17] The album's song "Brackish" was put on "The 19 Best Nu-Metal Hits of All Time" by Fuse.[16]

Chart positions

Chart Peak position
Top Heatseekers 1[25]
Billboard 200 79[25]
Top Independent Albums 14[25]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Morgan Lander, Mercedes Lander and Fallon Bowman. 

No. Title Length
1. "Spit"   2:20
2. "Charlotte"   3:56
3. "Suck"   3:31
4. "Do You Think I'm a Whore"   3:00
5. "Brackish"   3:06
6. "Jonny"   2:24
7. "Trippin'"   2:21
8. "Raven"   3:25
9. "Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)"   2:52
10. "Choke"   4:05
11. "Paperdoll"   3:22
12. "Immortal"   2:49
Total length:
 37:23

Personnel

Main personnel
Additional personnel
  • Juli Berg - director
  • Larry Busacca - photography
  • Tanya Candler - bass
  • Matt Chiaravalle - editing
  • Candace Corelli - director
  • DJ Dave - loops, beats, electronics
  • Garth Richardson - engineer, producer
  • Andrew Grimo - production assistant
  • Nicky Guilfoil - photography
  • Laurel Harris - executive producer
  • Ben Kaplan - production assistant
  • Kitten - artwork
  • Michael McLaughlin - photography
  • Rob Nation - engineer
  • Michael Santorelli - executive producer
  • Christopher Shaw - mixing
  • Brandy Stephen - paintings
  • Howie Weinberg - mastering

Sources

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Kittie's Spit album at Discogs
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. - Published: December 1st, 1999 - Retrieved: August 24th, 2015
  6. ↑ Kittie biography at Allmusic
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. January 25th 2000
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. February 11, 1999
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. February 3rd, 2000
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (March 20th, 2009). Retrieved on September 22nd, 2015
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. January 2002 - Retrieved: September 1st 2015
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Joseph, Peter Sno-core Ball hits with metal edge 'The GW Hatchet (Feb 8, 2001). Retrieved Jun 16, 2011.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Kittie Awards - Allmusic

External links

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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