Run With The Kittens

The evolution of Toronto’s Run with the Kittens continues with their experimental, progressive-rock fifth studio recording “Myth in the Sky”. This five song EP, set for release on April 30, 2010, confirms the Kittens are in fine musical shape. Fueled by their passion of raucous, in your face rock music and over the top, jaw-dropping live performances, Myth in the Sky is a solid representation of the band’s growth, skill and musicianship.

Drawing influences from acts across the genre-spectrum, Run with the Kittens music is sporadically diverse but remains tightly contained, all the while capturing it’s live audience by the sheer enthusiasm and intensity the group share. No surprise they were awarded with “Best Live Electric Band” by the Toronto Independent Music Awards in 2006.

The Kittens have performed over 800 shows in their seven year career, which included a 5 year residency at Toronto’s independent music cornerstone, The Cameron House. They’ve also hauled across Canada twice in their, now defunct, black school bus, and even pounced as far across the pond to Holland in late 2008. They’ve graced the stages of Mariposa and Eaglewood Folk Festival, rocked the pants off of NorthByNorthEast and have even played at a mental institution – where we’re sure the Kittens felt right at home. As of late, they’ve managed to secure 3 more residencies - one at the University of Toronto’s Hart House Café, one at Kitchener's Boathouse and The Jimmy Jazz in Guelph. - CBC Radio 3

All shows are not created equal. This was made clear at Run with the Kittens' EP release party for Myth in the Sky. When the evening kicked off with a hilarious performance by Hamilton, ON's favourite crazed-trucker geek, B.A. Johnson, the early attendants knew they were in for something a little different, and a lot special.

Run With the Kittens took the stage with a video projection depicting front-man Nate Milk taking an acid facial then fictionally subsisting on old gum and toilet water in the bowels of the Great Hall. This performance piece was dubbed "Tool of the Opera" and the band commenced their set with a mash up of Tool's "Sober," "Phantom of the Opera" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." An energetic set of originals, old, new and current, followed, punctuated with stand-out tracks like "Year of the Hour," "Little Fawn" and the title track from Myth in the Sky. A new song entitled "People Like It Better When It's Planned" was among the night's major show-stoppers, demonstrating the Kittens' increasingly sharp hooks in a progressive folk pop framework.

Not only are Run With the Kittens one of the best live ensembles going, but between drummer/glockenspielest Jake Oelrichs and guitarist Champagne James Robertson, they have two of the best musicians involved in anything even remotely resembling rock music. Their virtuosity manifests in how impeccably they can shape their abilities to fit any style of music.

Always ready to kick it up notch, for their encore the Kittens brought out a juggler, followed by a fire dancer, who chowed down the flames and set his arm ablaze. Shows like this are how legends are born and myths are made real. - Exclaim Magazine!

It used to be that you couldn’t describe Toronto’s Run With the Kittens with fewer than four hyphens. But on their fifth release, they’ve streamlined their country-prog-lounge-jazzabilly into a more conventional modern rock sound.

There’s still some genre meandering over the EP’s five tracks, but the band’s mostly dialed back its ironic stylistic experiments in favour of tight songwriting. The new approach tones down their trademark humour but pulls back the curtains on their skilled musicianship.

On the instrumental Caledonia, a distorted surf riff swirls around a propulsive bass line and complex drumbeat, while Little Fawn sounds like a long-lost Black Sabbath acoustic interlude, layering slow psychedelic guitar over bongo rhythms. We never thought we’d use the “m” word in reference to RWTK, but this is their most mature release yet. - NOW Magazine

One could spend an entire review just trying to explain the multitude of genres RWTK jam their fingers into with equal aplomb. Myth in the Sky, their fifth effort and first EP, finds Canada's most entertaining live act honing their song craft with another massive sonic left turn. Their electro-jazz-lounge tendencies have been dialled back in order to try on some new sound suits. Instrumental opener "Caledonia" builds off an outrageously syncopated drum pattern, with surf rock guitar and squelching synth farts flirting with a head-bang worthy metallic bridge. The rest of the EP navigates classic psychedelic folk rock, beautiful Eastern melodies, atmospheric piano, wistful guitar hooks and gritty Southern rock stomp. The humour and tasteful musical virtuosity that have rightly seen them compared to Frank Zappa, Ween and Beck are still intact, but mutated into a more mature beast, even if only because it's one of the few musical realms they haven't already conquered. - Exclaim Magazine!

[Run with the Kittens] have obviously struck a chord, which can be largely attributed to two things. One is their sense of humour, which is exhibited in songs like "Parkdale" and "Socar (the fictional barbarian)", and in Mills' freewheeling stage banter (though this sometimes inspires audience members to break the fourth wall and lick his face).
The other (always impressive) key to their appeal is their playing ability: all but Mills are trained musicians and it shows in their tendancy to shift gears with ease and in their imaginative, hyper-tight instrumentation. Still, the Kittens' cheekiness means they're often dismissed more than they deserve to be, though Mills doesn't foresee that roadblock existing forever.
"Our un-seriousness is sincere," he says. "My favourite thing about music is its honesty. The main problem with a lot of bands in this town is they're insincere and take themselves too seriously. I think one day they will fall to the wayside."

Nick Flanagan - Nick Flanagan, Eye Weekly, Toronto

...Run with the Kittens' spectacles (every Tuesday at the Cameron House) are notoriously outlandish, a kaleidoscopic costumed entertainment mish-mash that leaves folks' laughter-related muscles sore....their self-titled album...a highly amusing genre-obliterating stir-fry that makes Midnite Vultures sound like Dido with the volume low. - Jay Richards

"It'd be almost impossible for Run with the Kittens to funnel their spastic, epileptic live show into an album, but they pull it off..." - NOW Magazine

" A funny thing happened to me Saturday while waiting for White Cowbell Oklahoma to play their set. Opening act RUN WITH THE KITTENS actually managed to knock everyone's socks off! The talented Toronto team's perfect mixture of tight riffs and revival meeting style banter might have overshadowed a lesser band, but was a perfect opener for WCO" - 24 Hours Magazine

Sunparlour Players with RUN WITH THE KITTENS at the Tranzac, December 15. Tickets: $7.
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)

{That night} I was more than prepared for a good night of down-home music. I wasn't prepared for openers Run with the Kittens . When they walked onstage decked out in super-cheesy floral beach outfits, sunglasses and visors, the Kittens were either going to be amazing or dreadful. When you dress up like that, there is no middle ground.

Not many bands can do the comedy rock thing, but these guys were tight and funny enough to pull it off in spades, making Jack Black's Tenacious D seem elementary by comparison. Running through a totally revamped NWA cover, hammering out riffs and shaking their hands in the air, RWTK were equal parts goofy Beck and James Brown. All this from a band whose drummer wore a tight rubber swimming cap and goggles. They killed.
- Brent Raynor

"...RWTK have built a reputation for being a tight, energentic live band that has a winning way with audiences. The shows have comedic value of course, but underlying RWTK's gigs are the fact they are skilled musicians and songerwriters."

Adrian Ma - Echo Weekly

"When a CD release party show starts out by having two masked people in red jumpsuits carrying a large chain join the band on stage, and then a female body-builder arrives, breaks the chain, and starts to shuck corn, you know it's not going to be your average t-shirt-and-jeans kind of set. But that makes sense for a band like Run With The Kittens, who appear to be a fair distance away from average. Frank Zappa once asked the question: Does humour belong in music? And Run With The Kittens answers with a definitive yes. But the fact that humour is incorporated into their music shouldn't overshadow the skill in both performance and musicianship that this band possesses.

There were so many entertaining moments that there's no way for me to summarize them all and describing them all won't do the Kittens performance justice.

If you see their bus pulling into town (and you can't miss it), just go see them."

Pete Nema
www.petenema.com - Pete Nema Indie Music Revue

by Evan Dickson (April 11/2008)



By the time Run With The Kittens took the stage, I was desperate for something to happen so I wouldn't feel like I wasted a Friday evening. And the Kittens delivered a balls-out theatrical performance that must have even amazed loyalists of their loungey Tuesday residency. The experience of playing every week for tips showed on the 'Shoe's larger stage as the band knew how to hold the crowd's attention with every aspect of their performance: attitude, body language, and, of course, superb playing skills. The outfits didn't hurt either — the band wore plastic gold jackets, white sweatpants and obnoxious red caps. Fans of Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! would have recognized the gleefully bad talent show aesthetic.

It was easy to see why RWTK often get compared to Ween. Both bands blend jokes and genuine musical talent in a way that makes them hard to categorize. It can be difficult to take a band seriously when they mash-up Tool's "Sober" with The Phantom Of The Opera. When they dug out their old classic, "Ricky Martin Shake Your Boobies In My Face" I thought, "This reference is dead, put it to rest." But then Mills broke into a James Brown/Jerry Falwell public address that lead into an acid lounge finish and my only thought was, "Wow."

The fact is Mills and the boys happen to share with Ween some of their greatest attributes: their sense of humour, impeccable musicianship and genre-drifting talent. But the Kittens' roulette wheel of heavy space country, hardcore freak lounge, dub parodies and ironic metal makes them wholly unique. It takes a special band tomake an audience mosh to a country song.

The crowd that couldn't be coaxed into shaking its collective booty by the earnest pleas of the opening bands danced in the most spastic, angular patterns for the Kittens' set. It turned out all they needed was a good reason.

link to complete article- http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2008/04/1413.cfm

- Chart Magazine

By Aaron Levy

Bangers and mash is England’s equivalent to meat and potatoes, and here the course is 11 tracks and one interlude encompassing 30 minutes. The Kittens play tight collages of poppy fillings. It’s innocuous enough at first, delivering rockabilly and surf until third track “Take Me Home” runs light-speed into a James Brown breakdown. Next, taking the amps down to six, “Year of the Hour” could be as catchy as “The Sweater Song” in context, nearly (accidentally?) doing with Erykah Badu on wax what Weezer did live with Wu Tang. This seamlessly slips into an excruciating manifesto. “Fork and Knife” delves into the working class world of vitriol and vice. Later, the band uses reversed tape, Theremin and industrial beats for “End is the Message” and “Microwave.” After one half-hilarious, half-hollowed-out self-titled debut and one marked departure, RWTK, with Terry Brown (Rush), finally record their live sound for audiophiles. The next album’s the payoff, or maybe the bacon? (Independent) - Exclaim! Magazine 11/07

Earlier this week, while stalking friends and handsome strangers online, I came across a video clip announcing the Run With the Kittens CD release at the Horseshoe on Friday March 16. Run With the Kittens is a four piece band who have been playing together for four years, and they currently hold residency at the Cameron House every Tuesday night, where they perform an ambitious three hour set. They have been compared to Beck and Ween, but I thought their new CD, Condos and Lofts, would have been great for a sixties era lounge party. And, although I liked it, I didn't expect to be blown away by their performance.

Boy, was I wrong.

This was the first gig that the Kittens headlined at the Horseshoe and the place was packed. Run With the Kittens put on a high energy act that flowed seamlessly, even with several costume changes. Their rapport with the audience was dynamite and their stamina admirable. I haven't seen musical talent like that in awhile and I was shocked to learn they have not yet been signed to a record label.

I will likely watch them perform at the Cameron House sometime soon, before they blast off into superstardom, which is right where they belong. After all, I do have a weakness for cute guys with instruments.


by Aimee
- BlogTO