Formed in London, Ontario, Kittie are an all-female Alternative Metal band — their debut album leaned a little more Nu Metal, but gradually their music brought in a little Death Metal influence, which made proper use of Morgan Lander's demonic roar. They've also been described as Groove Metal and Gothic Metal, as their music evolved over time. The name of the band was chosen purely because of its contradictory tone; adorable imagery combined with brutal riffs.
Sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander (guitar and vocals for the former, drums for the latter) formed the band with friend Fallon Bowman (guitar) in 1996, when they were all teenagers. They jammed together until 1998, when they began performing live, adding their friend Tanya Candler on bass. They got signed to NG Records, only for the label to get bought out by Artemis Records. In 2000, that label would release the band’s debut album, Spit, produced by Garth Richardson who’d previously worked with Rage Against the Machine and L7. Spit was well-received in the midst of the Nu Metal years, and would eventually go gold. Unfortunately, as the first of many lineup changes, Tanya Candler left the band right before the album was to be released, caught completely off guard with the sheer amount of fame the band had gotten. Talena Atfield filled in, and wound up on the album cover in place of Candler. And Kittie did get big very quickly — 2000 saw the band tour with Slipknot, then Suicidal Tendencies, then headline the second stage at Ozzfest.
Founding member Fallon Bowman was the next to leave the band, right before the recording of their second album, leaving Morgan the only official guitarist for a while. The next album, Oracle, was released in late 2001, and was considerably heavier than Spit, showing the band’s increasing interest in Death Metal (plus a cover of Pink Floyd’s "Run Like Hell"), surprising some critics and fans. The band’s guitar tech, Jeff Phillips, filled in on guitar beside Morgan, until Lisa Marx was brought in to officially fill the other guitar spot — and yes, Jeff Phillips remains the only male who ever passed through Kittie’s ranks. Talena Atfield would also be replaced on bass by Jennifer Arroyo.
This lineup released Until The End in 2004, which wound up being their last album on Artemis thanks to "a proposed amendment to the recording budget for the pending fourth Kittie album." The band wound up with an out-of-court settlement over unpaid royalties and breaches of contract, but these financial difficulties behind the scenes would be a factor in Arroyo and Marx leaving the band. Kittie, down to just the Lander sisters, formed their own label, Kiss Of Infamy, only to rename it X Of Infamy after Gene Simmons of KISS sued them. Morgan and Mercedes briefly decided to try forming a new band, Sweet Revenge, with a radically different sound, and they made some demos, but any label they approached were just interested in Kittie, so they put a new lineup together.
Guitarist Tara McLeod, who would go on to be the longest tenured member after the Lander sisters, and bassist Trish Doan, would fill the vacant spots, and the band recorded a somewhat more radio-friendly album for release in 2007, called Funeral For Yesterday. The whole album cycle was a nightmare for the band - the recording sessions proved to be taxing, due to friction with producer Jack Ponti, who was far more fussy and particular than any producer the band had worked with before. The more approachable sound did pay off when the title track from Funeral For Yesterday became their biggest radio hit, but needless to say, the band didn’t work with Ponti again, buying out their contract with him. To make matters worse, Trish Doan (by her own admission) had developed an eating disorder during the recording sessions, and it had gotten so bad that she’d fainted off the stage during a show, forcing her to leave the band in the spring of 2008 to get better. The band’s manager, and Morgan and Mercedes’ father, David Lander, died of a heart attack later in the year.
Ivy Vujic filled in on bass, and with help from former Oracle engineer Siegfried Meier behind the boards, the band proceeded to have - as Morgan describes it - "an awesome, redeeming experience" recording fifth album In The Black, released in 2009 on eOne. The album returns Kittie to a familiar combination of alternative metal and death metal, and the experience making the record was so good, the band maintained Meier to record the follow-up, I’ve Failed You, released in 2011. After Vujic dealt with immigration problems, Trish Doan rejoined the band in early 2012.
In 2014, Kittie launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the release of a Kittie documentary, and a tell-all book. The $20,000 goal was funded in eight hours, and eventually doubled. In 2017, while the film and book were in production, the band had a 20th anniversary show in their hometown of London, where the Landers sisters would do three sets - one with the modern lineup alongside McLeod and a returning Vujic, one with the Oracle lineup alongside Jeff Phillips and Jennifer Arroyo, and the original Spit lineup with Fallon Bowman and a visibly-pregnant Tanya Candler. The show ended with a tribute to Trish Doan, who had died at only 31 years old earlier in the year.
The documentary, Kittie: Origins/Evolutions, was released in March of 2018, featuring interviews with members past and present, including Doan. A year later, the 20th anniversary concert was released as Kittie: Live at the London Music Hall.
Discography
- Spit (2000)
- Paperdoll EP (2000)
- Oracle (2001)
- Safe EP (2002)
- Until The End (2004)
- Never Again EP (2006)
- Funeral for Yesterday (2007)
- In The Black (2009)
- I’ve Failed You (2011)
- Origins/Evolutions (live) (2018)
- Fire (2024)
Kittie and their music provide examples of:
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: On "Spit":FOR ALL THOSE GIRLS WHO SPEAK CONTRADICT-SHUUUUUN!
- Be Careful What You Wish For: A theme in "What I Always Wanted."
- Broken Angel: Prominently featured in the video for "Charlotte." Not only is he a fallen angel, but a pack of bloodthirsty girls are here to chase him through the countryside, leading to an even worse fate.
- Careful with That Axe: Moreso on Spit than on later albums, when Morgan is more consistently growling.
- Cover Version: Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" on Oracle.
- Darker and Edgier: Starting right from Oracle, the band moved in a considerably heavier direction and started shaking off the Nu Metal tag.
- Lighter and Softer: Funeral for Yesterday, a much more radio-friendly album than usual. It got a minor hit in the title track, but Kittie’s just not that band, and they were back to their usual barrage of metal on subsequent releases.
- Metal Scream: Morgan Lander's roar could strip the chrome off a Cadillac. She could probably give Corpsegrinder a run for his money.
- Motor Mouth: Fallon Bowman’s backing vocals on "Brackish." On the chorus, Morgan has the clean vocals, while Fallon spits this out behind her at a rapid pace:TAKE SO MUCH AWAY FROM INSIDE YOU
MAKES NO SENSE, YOU KNOW HE CAN'T GUIDE YOU
HE'S YOUR FUCKING SHOULDER TO LEAN ON
BE STRONG - Nu Metal: They're often categorized here, though the debut, Spit, is probably the most nu-metal you'll get out of this band. Gradually, as the years went by, the band shrugged this off in favor of their own patented blend of Groove Metal, Gothic Metal and Death Metal.
- Pædo Hunt: "Choke," from Spit. Given that the members were all teenagers during recording, a song threatening a pedophile hits pretty hard.
- Rearrange the Song: As opposed to the album version of "Paperdoll" which is surprisingly low-key and stark, the EP version of "Paperdoll" has the distorted guitar attack more in tune with Kittie’s usual sound.
- Revolving Door Band: The Lander sisters are the only consistent members through the band’s tenure. The Origins/Evolutions show in 2017 lampshaded this with three different lineups performing songs from their respective albums.
- Soprano and Gravel: Morgan handles both the clean singing and the metal growls.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Fallon Bowman takes lead vocals on "Choke." Tanya Candler was supposed to sing lead on "Paperdoll" but left the band before Spit was released, so Morgan re-recorded them.
