Kitten - Kitten (2014) [Hi-Res]

Kitten's 2014 full-length, self-titled debut album showcases the infectious Los Angeles outfit's brand of driving '80s influenced dance and synth pop. Centered around the rambunctious, full-throated frontwoman Chloe Chaidez, Kitten have been making the club rounds since forming in 2009. However, Chaidez (only 18 at the time of this release), has been making music since she was ten years old. The daughter of former Thee Undertakers drummer Mike Chaidez, Chaidez sang in several bands before forming Kitten with songwriter/producer Chad Anderson. Largely a behind-the-scenes presence, Anderson co-wrote all of Kitten's material with Chaidez and executive produced the album. While the first two Kitten EPs revealed a guitar-based post-punk sound, here Chaidez delves deep into a more atmospheric, electronic-infused vibe clearly indebted to such '80s club titans as Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode. With her dynamic stage persona, that features plenty of extroverted dancing, Chaidez also brings to mind such icons as Madonna and Blondie's Debbie Harry. Cuts like the lead-off "Like a Stranger" and the equally as compelling "Devotion," are heart-pumping winners with enough lyrical and atmospheric grit to stand next to work by bands like M83 and Metric. There is also a strong ambient aspect to many of the arrangements here, with layered electric guitars, shimmering keyboards, and percussive electronics coloring such tracks as "G#" and "Cut It Out." Ultimately, with Chaidez in spotlight, Kitten is an album of swaggering dance club passion that aims to move your soul as much as it does your feet. -- Matt Collar