According to Valerie Potter of Q , Spit "kicks off sounding like a female Napalm Death, vocalist Morgan Lander screaming over the cataclysmic noise that is the title track". [72] The song's lyrics, which author Tommy Udo described as an "angry feminist riptose", [50] were inspired by the attitude of local bands towards Kittie, [7] with Mercedes stating in the album's press bio: "People expect us to suck, then we get on stage and blow them away." [47] [71] "Charlotte" was inspired by a serial killer from the book Rites of Burial by Tom Jackman and Troy Cole. [73] Structurally, the song goes from "speed metal to anthem to hardcore yelp to ballad, then back again", per Fissure. [58] "Do You Think I'm a Whore?" is about self-image and judgement by others for the way women—Kittie included—want to dress and present themselves. [74] Morgan said it was about people "[assuming] you're a slut because you wear a short skirt", [27] with its title being given "basically to prove people wrong". [7] According to Telegram & Gazette 's Craig Semon, the song starts with Morgan "[believing] the lies that she's something wicked", and shows her working up the strength to fight back from a point of faltered self-esteem. [61] "Brackish" incorporates "frenetic electronic beats" [66] and displays influences of techno and rap. [75] According to Morgan, the song is written about a toxic relationship between a friend of the band and an older man. [30] Metal Hammer 's Dannii Leivers called it an "anthem of empowerment", [30] whilst Brenda Bouw of the National Post viewed it as a warning against co-dependency and a call for "women to be strong and emotionally independent". [62]
According to the Sun-Sentinel , "Raven" was inspired by a death threat Kittie received from a male band they competed against in a talent show in Ontario. [42] "Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)" was written about the band's high school talent show, which marked their first experience with discrimination, according to Mercedes. [18] Michael Tedder of The Pitch described the song as a "vital, vitriol-filled" jab "at men who think women can't play rock". [70] "Choke" is an "emotional response to betrayal" [62] that musically recalls "the satanic churn of [1970s] hard rock", per Berger. [52] On "Paperdoll", the album's penultimate track, Morgan sings about the degradation of women as objects [76] over a "twangy" guitar rhythm and hammering drum beat. [61] Kittie said the song was intended to destroy the image of women as "blow-up dolls". [62] The album ends with the "Goth-tinged" instrumental track "Immortal". [77] The song was supposed to have lyrics, but were scrapped; according to Morgan, its original opening line was "The eyes of the victim". [78]
Release and promotion
Kittie began touring in support of Spit in July 1999, when they performed at the Milwaukee Metalfest. [79] [80] In August, the band toured the United States with Skinlab. [81] Uncomfortable with their growing popularity and dealing with personal issues, Candler informed her bandmates that she was leaving Kittie after their performance at the Big Day Off in Hartford, Connecticut, in September 1999. [82] The band quickly recruited Talena Atfield, a friend of Mercedes' whom had attented a number of Kittie's early shows, as her replacement. [83] Atfield had never played bass prior to Mercedes asking her to join the band; she learnt all of the album's songs within one week. [83] Following a warm-up show, the band performed at the CMJ Music Festival in New York City, [24] where a live music video was film for Spit's lead single, "Brackish". [30] [84] [nb 3] Candler's departure forced Kittie to delay Spit in order to change its artwork and re-record "Paperdoll", which she had sung lead vocals on. [37] [24] [86] Atfield performs bass on the re-recording of "Paperdoll". [24] Morgan would later credit Candler's departure with making Kittie a "more serious" band. [87] [nb 4]
In October 1999, a three-song sampler featuring "Brackish", "Spit" and "Charlotte" was sent to radio stations. [90] [91] Spit was initially released on November 13, 1999, but its production was short-lived as shortly thereafter, Ng was absorbed into Artemis Records, [30] [92] who delayed the album so they had enough time to promote it through radio speciality stations and in the press. [32] By January 2000, Kittie had been featured in Chart, CMJ New Music Monthly , Interview , Kerrang! , Mademoiselle , Rolling Stone , Spin , and in an MTV News 1515 report. [93] [91] [94] Artemis also organized a internet marketing campaign with MyPlay.com, [95] through which visitors were offered a free download of "Brackish" and "Choke". [32] Spit was reissued by Artemis on January 11, 2000, with different artwork and photographs, featuring pictures of Atfield in place of Candler. [30] [96] Sony Music handled the album's distribution outside of the United States. [93] "Brackish" was released as the album's lead single on the day of its reissue. [97] The song received heavy airplay on WAAF, and entered rotation on MTV, The Box, [94] and MuchMusic. [62] On June 5, 2000, Kittie released "Charlotte" as the album's second single. [98] The song's music video, filmed with director Lisa Rubish in early May 2000, [99] was an MTV hit. [100] It was named "Buzzworthy" by MTV shortly after its release, [101] and became one of the most played music videos on the channel during July 2000. [102] On December 12, 2000, the band released the Paperdoll extended play (EP), featuring a remix of "Paperdoll" and some live tracks recorded at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden in June of that year. [103] [104]
Touring
From January 7 to 29, 2000, Kittie toured America with Slipknot and Will Haven. [24] [105] The members of Kittie left high school prior to the tour, [2] [30] and later dropped out in favour of doing a GED. [106] [nb 5] In February, the band toured with Sevendust. [62] On February 23, 2000, Kittie performed "Brackish" live on Late Night With Conan O'Brien . [107] [108] From February 28 to March 5, 2000, they toured the United Kingdom, again supporting Slipknot. [109] Between April 7 and April 10, 2000, Kittie played three Canadian dates with Slipknot. [95] Kittie then embarked on an American tour with Chevelle, Shuvel and the Step Kings from April 27 to May 28, 2000. [99] On May 31, 2000, the band were interviewed and performed on the talk show Later . [110] In June 2000, the band toured Europe and performed at the Dynamo, Hultsfred, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals. [111] On July 11, 2000, Kittie released the home video Spit in Your Eye, featuring performance footage and interviews filmed during the band's tour with Slipknot. [99]
Kittie toured Europe with Suicidal Tendencies before returning to the United States to headline the second stage of Ozzfest. [99] They were the youngest, and only female act, on that year's bill, [30] and second overall after Drain STH. [112] Artemis wanted Kittie to begin recording a new album after Ozzfest, but the band didn't feel ready to end touring then. [113] From September 5 to 16, 2000, Kittie embarked on its first tour of Canada. [114] After a tour supporting Pantera was cancelled due to vocalist Phil Anselmo falling and breaking two ribs, Kittie formed a headlining tour with Mudvayne, Apartment 26 and Factory 81 that ran from November 18 to December 1, 2000. [103] Between January 19 and February 17, 2001, Kittie performed on the SnoCore Rock Tour, after which they began working on material for their next album. [115]
Critical reception
| Spit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 13, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | May 1999 [nb 1] | |||
| Studio | EMAC (London, Ontario) | |||
| Genre | Nu metal | |||
| Length | 36:55 (original) 37:23 (reissue) | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Producer | Garth Richardson | |||
| Kittie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Spit | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [55] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 [56] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [116] |
| Kerrang! |  [117] |
| NME | 4/10 [44] |
| Q | [72] |
| Rock Hard | 7/10 [118] |
| Rolling Stone | [52] |
| Select | [45] |
| The Village Voice | C+ [119] |
Arion Berger of Rolling Stone deemed the album "fairly good-natured for an exercise in repetitive maximum aggro". [52] Roxanne Blanford of AllMusic deemed it "simultaneously retro and progressive in its blunt musical expression". [55] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff felt that Kittie could rock "heavily and smartly" and praised their songwriting as "way beyond [its members] years". [56] Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly highlighted its "corrosive and melodic" qualities. [116] Though finding it "pedestrian" at times with its "juvenile lyrics and typical metal growling", Mark Earnest of the Reno Gazette-Journal considered it the work of a "great basic hard-rock band". [49] Lalane Fissure of The Village Voice praised Richardson's production and Kittie's ability to mix melody with "dirgelike" instrumentation but found Morgan's lyrics juvenile and unintentionally funny. [58] Valerie Potter of Q praised Richardson's production but felt that its songs were "largely unremarkable", [72] whilst Tanya Richardson of The Stranger found the album repetititve after a "strong start". [47] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian described its music as "unlistenable doom-metal" and felt that Morgan's lyrics were "lost in the maelstrom of her upper register." [120]
Steve Morse of the Boston Globe described most of the album as "standard-issue shock-rock". [51] Billboard 's Michael Paoletta remarked that "Everything about Spit is supposed to be titillating-from the jailbait visual image of the act's four teen female members to the winking yet completely harmless lyrical content. Alas, everything about the project seems a tad too calculated to actually trigger the desired response." [121] Roman Sokal of Exclaim! criticized Kittie for focusing on "shock novelty" and accused Richardson—whom he called the "only hinge of credibility" on Spit—of "using enough overtly suspicious studio trickery" to make the album sound "synthetic". [54] NME believed that Kittie "could be one of the most (uncom)promising fem-centric rock'n'roll bands of the new millennium", but were "too conscious of the nu-metal zeitgeist to affect any real menace." [44] Although he considered it musically unchallenging, Stuart Muirhead of Select believed that the album "underlines the fact that it's Kittie's ability, as much as their novelty value, that makes them so remarkable". [45]
In his "Consumer Guide" for The Village Voice , Robert Christgau remarked that Spit was "Proof that Korn fans aren't sexist—they were just waiting for four cute teenage girls to come out bellowing 'Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick).' Waiting so eagerly, in fact, that whether the girls bellowed loud enough was beside the point." [119] In a subsequent interview with Rolling Stone, Christgau said he approved of what Kittie did but felt that they "[didn't] do it well" compared to the Donnas; he also expressed concern that the band would provide "an excuse [for guys] to say, 'Ah bullshit, girls suck and they can't play rock & roll.' ". [122] Amy Sciarretto of CMJ New Music Report praised Morgan and Bowman's performance and asked listeners to see past the band's image to hear their "no-holds-barred metal". [123] Oliver of Metal.de was disappointed by people paying more attention to Kittie's looks than their music, which he felt was "easily in the top leagues". [64] Expressing similar sentiments, Michelle Solomon of the Detroit Free Press believed the band was more mature than its peers Korn and Limp Bizkit. [124]
