Kitten Caboodle

With a much cooler moniker than the Pussycat Dolls or even defunct local noise bastards Harry Pussy, the Livid Kittens have been enchanting crowds with rock-hard performances during their 14-year career. The group's powerfully punky and often complex sound works on tape or disc, but it's their live shows that...

By Greg Baker

March 1, 2007

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With a much cooler moniker than the Pussycat Dolls or even defunct local noise bastards Harry Pussy, the Livid Kittens have been enchanting crowds with rock-hard performances during their 14-year career. The group's powerfully punky and often complex sound works on tape or disc, but it's their live shows that have made bassist David Heikkinen and singer Paige Alison Harvey local legends. Attending a Kittens show should be a mandatory assignment in Punk 101. Their army-boot-in-the-face sound enhanced by Harvey's pouty attitude is captivating, and she's a hard-core mix of Deborah Harry and Eartha Kitt, with bravado and moves to match. Their latest release, The Diamond-Cutter Sessions, from this past November, is what the kids used to call an "EP," but it seems silly to describe a recording that lasts less than 18 minutes "extended." The band claws its way through four tough originals before covering "Ace of Spades" from Motörhead's catalog without noticeable irony. They also manage to use purposely flamboyant lyrics such as "Our laughs, our talks, your big lips, your cock/That's what I want" and "Fuck you and the surfboard you rode in on." The sleeve features two big red cocks refracted over a diamond, and on the actual disc, there's a geisha holding a really huge cock. Get it? With this band, there's no innuendo.

The Livid Kittens, Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers, Psycho Daisies, and Vesper Sparrow perform at 10 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Alligator Alley, 1321 Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Admission costs $5. Call 954-771-2220.

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