KaitO: Band Red : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Kaito's thoroughly modern cute-punk has the icy cool aftertaste of three decades of distortion, New Wave melody and mixed gender-blending. Squeezing out melodies that are at once primitive and futuristic on plain ol' guitar, bass and drums, the band stuffs the noise-poppin' "Enemyline" with the fun of old-school girl punk and with politi-punk stridency (thanks to drummer Dee Quantrill's crisp style). On the subdued "Nothing New," lead vocalist Niki Colk experiments with fairyland vocals. "Anamoy" is hi-energy Euro-ya-ya (complete with lyrics en Francais); is it any wonder Imperial Teen's goofy Will Schwartz sits in on vocals? Kaito's acute ear for the past, rock & roll scholarship and maturing sensibility injects a much-needed freshness into kiddie noise pop, a genre that's otherwise closing in on its sell-by date.

DENISE SULLIVAN
(May 27, 2003)