"First things first, Ciara O'Neill's voice. It throws itself around the listener like a lasso, tugging us into the midst of these cantering, playful songs. O'Neill communicates a sweet and bracing melancholia that reminds us of The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler...however, it is not just O'Neill's delivery that is extrodinarily emotive. The compositions are assured and beguiling. 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, iheartau.com.


"The stripped down and warm, natural textures gently radiating from the whole KATCO experience will evoke relaxing, colourful Pacific coast images, starkly contrasting the dreary greys of its origins in Northern Ireland... many of Doran's acoustic riffs sound like something Elliot Smith might have composed if he wasn't so depressed all the time, Paul Scott's soothing bass line will ease you into a gorgeous peaceful position. It is surely the kind of pop music we'd all like to hear more often on the radio." James Holland, drop-d music journal.


“'This is our murder ballad,' says Ciara O’Neill, singer with Kitty and the Can Openers, and then smiles. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds they certainly aren’t, but KATCO are without question one of Belfast’s best new bands. They have a collection of breezy and quite briliant songs and Ciara has a fantastic voice that’s reminiscent of the likes of Jenny Lewis and Nina Persson, while Ronan Doran is a supremely talented guitarist.

The murder ballad in question is Cold Wind , featuring Ciara on xylophone and darkly witty lyrics such as “I’ve got two beers left maybe one could serve as a weapon” are to the fore in many of the four-piece’s songs. “I’d buy her sweeties…but she’s got diabetes,” sings Ciara in the opening song of the night, the excellent She Reads Magazines. And while Roll on Yesterday isn’t in fact a ditty about deodorant, it’s one of Kitty and the Can Openers strongest songs and if there’s any justice in the world it’ll be a hit single someday.

Adding a touch of local flavour, the song even ryhmes ‘yesterday’ with ‘Helen’s Bay’. KATCO released a fine five-song EP last month and the fact that they don’t play On The Fringes , one of the EP’s standout tracks, proves that they have quality songs in abundance. Another one of their captivating storytelling tunes centres around a guy who “looks a bit like Ronaldinho” and when Ciara introduces set-closer Spider as “our pop song”, and as she sings “She’s as sharp as a splinter” it seems clear that Kitty and the Can Openers are one of the sharpest acts in town at the minute."

Brian Campbell, The Irish News.



E: band@kittyandthecanopeners.com W: www.kittyandthecanopeners.com