Kitty, Daisy and Lewis – Kitty Daisy and Lewis

Kitty, 15, Daisy, 19 and 17-year-old Lewis Durham are an example of what can happen when you turn the TV off and find something more interesting to do: they rummaged through old record collections, found something they liked and stepped back in time to an era of quiffs and trouser braces.Formed in 2002, the Durham teenagers have had a lot of help on the way; their mum is Ingrid Weiss of the Raincoats, while dad used to sing the kids bluegrass, jive and rock-a-billy classics at bedtime. The brother and sister trio hark back to the days before high-tech sounds and recording studios, in fact the whole album was recorded in analogue in their Kentish Town basement studio, built by Lewis himself.Their self-titled debut is a symphony of R&B, Swing, Blues, Country and Western, Hawaiian and Rock ‘n' Roll. Featuring a ukulele, a guitar, trombone, banjo, piano, accordion and lap steel guitar the album leads with new single ‘Going Up The Country.' It is a perfectly rounded summer holiday feel-good jam, full of harmonica solos, handclaps and lyrics about leaving the city smog for green country hills.Kitty, Daisy and Lewis' multi-instrumental talents are certainly evident, yet what the album lacks is conviction. The 50s was one of the coolest decades, it was the time of the teenager and the rebel and suddenly parents were scared of the kids who weren't listening to them any more, it was exciting. But previous single ‘Mean Son Of A Gun' lacks that energy and that fervour, it lacks that deep rooted melancholia that 50s music had, and does not really do justice to the original honky-tonk record of Johnny Horton. Although, there is something in Kitty's growled vocals that makes her almost believable as a pistol-wielding bad boy, even though she is a girl. ‘Ooo Wee,' was the b-side to this single, and again it just doesn't do justice the Louis Jordan version, as Lewis's vocals are just too clean, void of the worldly wiles that lend energy to the original.Self-penned original, album highlight, ‘Buggin Blues' brings a more earnest, bluesy sound and swinging-rhythm to modern teenage life with all its insecurities and complexities, but contrary to their incredible live performances it just doesn't have that infectious, soulful vibe. Unlike the bands swinging ‘Honolulu Rock-a-Roll-a' that does make you want to get up and swing your little grass skirt.Kitty, Daisy and Lewis shows talent not to be reckoned with but it suffers from a deficit of original songs, as these gifted kids can't expect to ride on the coattails of their blues heroes forever. One hopes that with time, and with some tweaking of the formula Kitty, Daisy and Lewis will produce a record of genuinely original, swinging-blues songs. 74%Kitty, Daisy and Lewis on MySpace