by Roxanne Blanford

Brandishing a meatier, heavier sound than contemporaries Limp Bizkit and Korn, the London, Ontario quartet Kittie debuted with Spit in late 1999. 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. Borrowing their heavy sound from the familiar strains of '70s metal and tempering it with modern techno breakbeats, Kittie's lyrical assaults rain down mercilessly, making this debut simultaneously retro and progressive in its blunt musical expression.