KIDS N CATS might not be the newest band on the block, but their ability to treat pop itself as an instrument makes them just as fresh as ever. And KIDS N CATS look just as cool as ever. “11 Tracks”, their third release following the debut album “KAOS” and it’s successor EP “Juicy Worlds” in 2016, is a whirlwind trip through 11 countries.
Dimmed red light, challenging looks, their bodies covered with fruit almost as if the fruit had infested their skin. The Viennese Kids N Cats present themselves as a modern still-life. They are absolute ultra-pop. A unique mix of past, present and almost future pop. Genres are ignored here, codes are reconstructed, motifs reinterpreted, the actual meaning removed and remixed. Whether memes, filters, or simply gestures, Kids N Cats barely suppress their deep dependence on digital culture. The whole thing seems like an upload of a classical band formation into the digital space and back to reality again.
„I don´t want to save the world today. Give me some chocolate and leave me alone“
Not surprisingly, ”11 Tracks” (Wouf Records) contains exactly 11 tracks. 11 short trips that can be read and experienced both autonomously and as a unit. The journey goes from Israel to Germany, France, Japan, China, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Swaziland and finally back to Austria. The aspect of language as a form that connects and separates is therefore always central to the album. on which a total of 6 languages are spoken. Cooperation with local artists such as Thales Silva, ChaCha, Lupa, or Nix gives the album a uniquely flavoured sound while artistically highlighting the networking aspect. In the course of the album, aesthetic forms, languages, and sounds are temporarily adopted, used, and left behind, thus opening up a direct correspondence with the sounds and experiences found on site. Despite many stylistic digressions, the sound aesthetics of Kids N Cats remains strongly recognizable to the end. The journey becomes a diverse entity or uniform plurality.
In the end we return to the simultaneously familiar and foreign Austria,. This last musical stage could best be defined with one word: Reluctance. A deliberate use of what you know best about Austria. The album “11 Tracks” is the transformation of memory to sound, providing the possibility to press repeat, to pause, to change the order. Random or not.
Ada Karlbauer (translated from the German article by David Dempsey)