"There is a graceful, understated charm to the indie-folk of Kitty and the Can Openers. The endearing melodies of their eponymous debut EP are sun-dimpled but hint at rain clouds on the horizon. It is a sweetness tempered by the realisation that all good things really do come to an end...nostalgia-blasted songs such as 'She Reads Magazines' and 'Roll on Yesterday' don't so much revisit a moment as inhabit it, the cascading acoustic guitar carrying us along on eddying chords and brisk melodies. Blissful." AU Magazine.
Adapting a deliberately throwaway name that chimed with their DIY ethos, Ciara O'Neill and Ronan Doran spent the latter half of 2006 in a South Belfast bedsit, tuning their guitars subjectively and experimenting with an acquired array of musical bric-a-brac. Through a network of mutual acquaintances, Pauls Scott and Fox soon joined in on bass and percussion, and the four became fast friends, crafting a lyrical repetoire of vignettes about the humdrum side of youth and yearning in the big city.
Resisting the temptation to "go electric", they began to carve a folk/pop niche in earnest. Funding their first EP out of their own pockets, and gigging extensively throughout 2007, it wasn't until their flagship tune, Roll on Yesterday, was picked up by BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line that things really started rolling.
Their triumphant EP launch of November 2008, bolstered by a guerrilla advertising campaign, attracted the attention of some of Northern Ireland's top pundits, including AU Magazine and Brian Campbell of The Irish News, who praised their "captivating storytelling tunes", describing them as "without a doubt one of Belfast's best new bands". They used the kudos wisely, securing support slots with some of the top female talent to breeze through Belfast in the ensuing year, Waterford's Wallis Bird and anti-folk heroine Emmy the Great among them.
They expanded their fan base south of the border, being syndicated by Dublin's Phantom 105.2, and becoming regulars at The Globe, Gt George's St, where they will make their sixth appearance in April of this year. Following airplay on Steve Lamacq's Radio 2 show, KATCO finally went national with a live set on BBC Introducing... with Rory McConnell on Radio 1 last February 2009, and in July they signed that elusive record contract, in this case with Audio-Ill records and their sister title, Grand Parade Publishing.
The band are simultaneously recording their next EP and what will be their debut album, and September 2010 is earmarked for a second UK tour, following their first of November 2009, which was kicked off by a live appearance on BBC Radio Ulster's The Gerry Anderson Show, (where they still receive regular airplay) last Children in Need Day. In between times they will be balancing their busy recording schedule with relentless gigging, which will include an appearance on BBC 2's Imeall Gael in June, and, in another of life's felicities, will see Roll on Yesterday (with the lyric "roll on motorway") adopted as the theme tune to the newly opened Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Perhaps best described as tea with Joni Mitchell and the The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake courting Mazzy Star, or simply an aural aggregate of all the details of everyday life that inspire and horrify them, Kitty and the Can Openers are a winsome and idiosyncratic bunch who shoot straight from their child-like hearts. They are to be found in bars and coffee shops up and down the country, selling their wares and telling their stories.
Their EP is available for purchase or free download from their official website. For further info and updates please feel free to visit their Myspace, Facebook, Last FM, Bebo, YouTube, or Twitter accounts. KATCO xx.
E: band@kittyandthecanopeners.com W: www.kittyandthecanopeners.com