Kittie

To Kittie’s detriment, the standout cut on the all-female metal band’s new Safe EP is the techno remix of the title track by KMFDM’s Sascha Konietzko. It’s interesting to hear how the change of a single root note during the tune’s B-section results in melodic bloom. (Compare it with the original version—a monotonous piano-laden dirge from last year’s Artemis CD Oracle—which follows.) The rest of Safe consists of spirited live takes of five more tunes off Oracle, plus three bonus live videos. Here, the band wears its influences for all to see: riff repetition courtesy of Nirvana, vocal melodies à la Madonna. But the jarring juxtaposition of clean, plaintive singing and generic metal growls? That’s all Kittie. In the end, a few numbers manage to muster up some fragments of hooks (check “In Winter”), but the general lack of songwriting sophistication keeps any real excitement at bay.