Patti Cake

Patti Cake frontwoman Kritty Uranowski calls me from the hallway at a Montessori school where she teaches music. The kids were just practising You’ve Got A Friend and My Girl.
Uranowski is a rarity. She performed in the 2007 movie adaptation of Hairspray and hopes to get a part in Les Mis, but she’s equally at home in Patti Cake, her seven-piece 60s-girl-group-meets-90s-girl-group (meets math rock), which is pretty much the most fun live band in Toronto.
Last time I saw them, Uranowski was wearing a giant see-through muumuu and joking about her wig falling off. (It wasn’t a wig, just her larger-than-life bleach-blond hair.)
“Our motto is ‘not really any slow jams,’” says Uranowski. “I love the heart and soul [of country music] and I’m a very earnest songwriter, but I want everyone to have a good time – have some drinks, have some laughs and dance with someone cute.”
It helps that Uranowski is so at ease onstage. “I’m a hokey kinda gal,” she says. “I think people feel a little less embarrassed to dance in front of me.” - Sarah Greene, Now Magazine

With the best time slot, the best crowd, and the best hair (a wig?) Patti Cake all but stole the show. Singer Kritty Uranowski’s got a voice so big that when she belted it for the first time it came as an eye-popping surprise; but rarer than that is the band’s ability to take the crowd into their wacky musical world. - Sarah Greene, Now Magazine

PATTI CAKE went on at 9pm and is a group of musicians lead by Kritty Uranowski, who have grandparents cool enough to have saved all their doo wop, rockabilly and soul 45s. Kritty does her best Buddy Holly with her giant hollow body Gretsch guitar while wearing a green leopard print dress (“My Bea Arthur suit!”). While they are dressed in 80’s-90’s hipster threads they are old school all the way, but done in a very modern style. Doo wop cooing with harsh sing-spoken verses. One song sounds like a cover of “Be My Baby” the classic Ronnettes song, except this version is about Lindsay Lohan and how she is just misunderstood. Kritty announces the next song is called “Zanzibar” and explains it is “Not the strip club, the place in Africa!” before proceeding to pull her boobs out of her top to reveal a bright bra and break out into a “Surfin’ Safari” like jam. While everyone was talented it was the Kritty show from beginning to end. She is a fantastic front woman with a voice that hits nice low notes but can hit the high notes and sound like Janis Joplin. If Phil Spector is your ideal producer Patti Cake will rock your sock hop!

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Among a slew of too-serious rock bands, one of the most charming acts I saw was broadway performer Kritty Uranowki’s 60’s girl group Patti Cake at Rancho Relaxo Friday. Kritty has a sense of humour like no other, penning inspirational songs to boost Lindsay Lohan’s self-esteem, insisting that her friend’s friend Amanda Bynes is actually a very sweet girl, and threatening to tear off her retro polyester garb mid-set. - resonancity.com

Self described as “A 60's girl group meets a 90's grrrl group” this band entertained the patrons of The Velvet Underground. Their description is great because at any given time you would have thought you were listening to the 60's girl band playing at the drive-in on Happy Days. Very catchy and melodic they kept people dancing and bobbing all during their set. - Tmak World

My one excursion from the Dollar took me down to Queen Street to see a set that was a striking counterpoint to the glacial sombreness I'd just witnessed. Locals Patti Cake traffic in something closer to exuberance — or at least that's the spirit channelled by frontwoman Kritty Uranowski. The recent fashion cover model sings with a smile and a brassy tone that tugs the whole band into a more cheerful, kodachromed landscape. That fits with plenty touches of classic 60's songcraft — including a pair of swaying backing vocalists. But the retro flourishes were countered by some more modernist signifiers, including one song's paean to Lindsay Lohan. Most of the songs here were quite fab, and the overall spirit was bright and welcoming, just right for a sunny day. - Mechanical Forest Sound

I started this one off really well though, with Patti Cake, fronted by the excellent Kritty Uranowski. Kritty is one of those frontwomen who can not only sing circles around her peers, but has personality to spare — she’s just a ton of fun to watch and listen to.

As a bonus, Patti Cake’s music is great too. Any mash-up between retro girl groups and indie rock is right up my alley, and I give bonus points for a song about a ghost cat. Can’t wait to see this band again. - Two Way Monologues

I started this one off really well though, with Patti Cake, fronted by the excellent Kritty Uranowski. Kritty is one of those frontwomen who can not only sing circles around her peers, but has personality to spare — she’s just a ton of fun to watch and listen to.

As a bonus, Patti Cake’s music is great too. Any mash-up between retro girl groups and indie rock is right up my alley, and I give bonus points for a song about a ghost cat. Can’t wait to see this band again. - Two Way Monologues

Patti Cake

Fronted by Kritty Uranowski (guitar, vocals) who donned quite the bedazzled show-stopping pageant dress, and featuring the “doo-wop” duo of Steph Guthrie and Lara Zarum on back-up vocals, Patti Cake are the modern hipster version of a classic 60’s girl group, but with a roller derby “grrrl” edge. In that, you get the sense Kritty could kick your butt if she wanted to. There are boys in this band too – Dan Bedard (guitar), Jordan Andrews (bass), Jeremy Woodcock (keys), and Adam Hindle (drums) – but I will admit, it took at least four songs until I really noticed them (sorry boys!). Such is the power of a voice like Uranowski’s.

Featuring songs off their aptly named EP Prime Minister of Cool Chicks, Patti Cake entertained the crowd with a set that could have easily fit in at a high school homecoming dance in the 1960’s, and fittingly included a cover of “Stop In The Name Of Love” by super-girl group The Supremes that came complete with coordinated dance moves. The set ended with the deep and soulful track “Nobody Loves Me Anymore” – except, I’m pretty sure the crowd was smitten with you Patti Cake, so much so that they demanded “one more song!” Uranowski put down her guitar for a cover of No Doubt’s “Sunday Morning,” a perfect choice. Unbridled by an instrument, this allowed her theatrics to take center stage, while we unleashed our inner 10-year old selves and sang along. - Buying Shots For Bands

A video interview with Kritty and Dan of Patti Cake - Two Way Monologues

A video interview with Kritty and Dan of Patti Cake - Two Way Monologues

The SummerWorks Music Series has established itself as more than just an afterthought to the theatre festival, and this year’s is better than ever. Over the next two weeks, a ton of established local acts will perform at the Lower Ossington Theatre, while up-and-comers like upbeat soul-garage-rocker Patti Cake play the free kick?off party tonight in the MOCCA Courtyard.

Even though Patti Cake’s been together less than a year, lead singer/songwriter Kritty Uranowski appears to have few doubts about their ability to stand out from the pack of 60s girl-group-influenced rock bands.

“I’m not too worried about sounding derivative, because I’ve got a voice that’s actually suited to [the genre],” she says, chuckling. “I see a lot of girls doing this, but I can actually sing. Okay, that’s kind of rude and I didn’t mean it like that, but it’s true.”

Yeah, that sounds cocky, but take a listen to Patti Cake’s self-released EP, The Prime Minister Of Cool Chicks, and tell her she’s wrong. Uranowski’s big, soulful pipes immediately grab your attention, and the Motown and country influences breathe new life into the punked-up Phil Spector formula. They’ve also got oodles of sunny, bouncy energy, though much of the material had much mellower, darker beginnings.

“I went through a horrible breakup, made a fort out of my bed, wrote all these depressing country ballads and then sped them up and turned them into pop songs.” - Benjamin Boles, Now Magazine

Drawing from different genres we’ve all come to know and love, it’s easy to understand Patti Cake’s undeniable charm. Buoyant psych-pop, 60’s girl groups, and hints of Motown coalesce smoothly resulting in a sound marked by female harmonies, jangly guitars, and uptempo energy. But front and centre is singer/guitarist Kritty Uranowski’s soulful and expressive vocals, the singular tool that really carries the music. With a strong debut EP, impeccable musicianship coupled with a nostalgic nod to the past, Patti Cake is definitely worthy of more attention. - The Lonely Vagabond