Music

Kaptivating Condemnation

hard rockers Kaptivating Kate release debut LP

Trevor Kupfer |

 
Kaptivating Kate

Say what you want about Kaptivating Kate, a band that has made it very clear since their start in 2008 that they play to a very specific audience/niche of musical taste, but you have to admit they pull it off quite well. So chances are you’ll either love their full-length debut, or hate it.

KK is a four-piece hard rock outfit from Eau Claire that picked up speed last year – playing regularly at The House of Rock and even notching an appearance at Minneapolis’ Station 4’s annual Flight of the Valkyries metal fest – and came to be known for their all-female dynamic. Things have since been switched up, as drummer Chad Boehm (formerly of Sign of the Times) has been added to the guitar trio of Britt Thays (vocals/rhythm), Becky Pierce (lead), and Hannah Stage (bass).

KK has the softness you’d expect of a female-fronted rock group, marked in this case by melodic lyrics, but Thays consciously adds a hard metal edge with lyrical grunts and low screams (usually the song title or chorus). The best way to describe the dynamic of their sound is with a comparison to Evanescence, because of the mixture of lyrically driven songs and accessible rock grooves, plus a dedicated following. There’s no electronica or keys, but it’s also not thrashing speed metal.

Their debut LP, Condemned, has a few things going for it: the catchy guitar lick on Morphine (my fave), the drive to the title track Condemned, and the fact that I can’t hear Cover Me Up, Come Crying, or Home without picturing fans screaming along with the lyrics. Plus, I’m confident the band is in contention for one of the creepiest local album covers in history with their sepia-toned, chain-bound, and broken photo subject on the cement steps of a gated building (maybe a church?).

    Kaptivating Kate CD Release + Entropy + 1956 • Sept. 17 • House of Rock, 422 Water St. • 10pm • FREE • ages 21+ • MySpace.com/KaptivatingKate