Spalding Rockwell - Kate

  by Gilbert Blecken

published: 30 / 8 / 2004

Label: Defiant Records
Format: CD

intro

Impressive, versatile Electroclash on debut album from girl duo, Spalding Rockwell, which sounds like "Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders recording songs with Suicide"

Most of today’s bands which are considered to be Electroclash or Electropop don't give you the chance to love them 100 percent. Either they have a strong image like Crossover or Fischerspooner but fail to produce consistent albums or they do brilliant records like Chicks On Speed but couldn’t be recognized by anyone offstage. It may have taken a while, but Spalding Rockwell is finally one of those rare bands to give you best of both worlds – fantastic music and great looks. Musically, they are the missing link between Joan Jett, Client and Peaches, which means they are sometimes a bit punky, but are usually definitely settled in the electronic area. What will strike you immediately is that Mary Louise Platt and Nicole Lombardi both have very distinctive, sensual-seductive voices – think of Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders recording songs with Suicide and you probably get the picture. They do have a large variety of style as well, but slow, heavy electronic tracks like 'Vicious', 'Nina' or 'Touch It' are probably what they do best. 'Kate' is not a perfect release (the track 'Masha' for example only sounds like a rough demo and definitely needs a bit more production), but the highlights of this album (there are many) are much more exciting than anything else you could hear right now. Spalding Rockwell may even seem to be destined for greater things, but for now don’t miss this excellent debut.

Track Listing:-