Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – Smoking In Heaven
Sunday Best SBESTCD44P
Tomorrow – Will I Ever – Baby Don’t You Know – Don’t Make A Fool Out Of Me – I’m Going Back – Paan Man Boogie – Messing With My Life – What Quid? – You’ll Soon Be Here – I’m So Sorry – You’ll Be Sorry – I’m Coming Home – Smoking In Heaven.
Maybe it’s the double bass, their look or the old-fashion way they have to cut their records (mostly live with vintage microphones), but Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have been hastily tagged “Rockabilly”.
But it’s a very reducing view, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear that Rockabilly is just one minor ingredient in their musical stew.
After a first album mostly made of covers, “Smoking In Heaven”, a joyful musical mess featuring 13 self-penned songs, proves that Kitty Daisy & Lewis are not stuck in the ’50s. Thus, next to the Rockabilly of I’m Going Back and the Arthur Crudup-esque You’ll Be Sorry, one can find tracks with a rocksteady beat (“Tomorrow” and “I’m so Sorry” that sees the Durham family augmented by a trumpet and a trombone) and a harmonica led jam that sounds a bit like Creedence Clearwater Revival extended jam at the end of Keep On Chooglin (Smoking In Heaven). You’ll also be rewarded with a good dose of swing (Will I Ever), country skiffle (I’m Coming Home that features a great guitar solo from Lewis), piano-led Boogie-Woogie (Paan Man Boogie), 60’s British blues with Hammond ala Animals (Baby Don’t You Know) and hypnotic Chicago Blues revisited by T-Rex (What Quid an obsessive 7 minute instrumental). And if you still believe they’re retro, listen to the funky groove of “Don’t Make A Fool Out Of Me” (that reminds me a bit of G-Love & the Special Sauce) and the unclassifiable “Messing With My Life”.
And because they’re young, they approach all those styles without any complex but with a highly infectious and fresh attitude.
Of course, they’ll lose some fans on the so-called purist rockabilly scene who don’t see farther than their pompadour, but Kitty Daisy & Lewis are precious because they’re bringing new blood, solid songs, original ideas and most of all they rock!
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis’s official website.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
