Tag Archives: Amanda White

Album Review: Amanda White – Kittens Give Zero Fucks

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Amanda White

photo by Emilie Storrs; photo courtesy of Amanda White

Album Review of Amanda White: Kittens Give Zero Fucks

Old-school, New York punk rock energy meets at-times progressive rock arrangements, capped with a voice capable of “hitting oh-my-god!” notes. Amanda White‘s music feels simultaneously familiar and completely original. This opera singer with a punk rock soul produces music that’s potentially appealing to dyed-in-the-wool punks, expansive progressive rockers, and many of us in-between with the mix of power, punk, impossible vocals, and clever, catchy songwriting found on Kittens Give Zero Fucks.

“Last to Bite” ably opens the disc with a edgy, soaring vocals, crunchy guitarwork, and an unrelenting steady beat that marches forward with the purposefulness of a story-advancing rock-theater piece.

Amanda White - Kittens Give Zero Fucks album cover

album art by James Sullivan; image courtesy of Amanda White

The punk attitude comes to the forefront of the next track, “Fuckall Rockstar,” a devil-may-care, norms-be-damned rocker with only-in-punk lyrics like “got a rack like Michelle Obama,” “every virgin has been unchasted,” and “sir, your voice is a little scrapy, and your tone is a little rapey.” But it’s sooooo catchy, you’ll soon be singing along. Best not to listen to this song on your way to work if you’re prone to singing aloud the song stuck in your head, ’cause this tune will set up camp in there.

Speaking of earworms, the next song, Amanda’s energetic “Whackadoodle World” with its crunchy, hooky guitar line, is yet another of the several brain-burrowers on Kittens… Granted, the lyrics you’ll catch yourself singing along with, “Wha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-oh,” aren’t the most substantive in the song – nor are they NSFW, so there’s no worry there – but you will get to sing them often.

“Ur Wife” is a crunchy, catchy immorality tale, riffing with energy off a steady, juke joint bass line, that playfully utilizes Amanda’s vocal range, storytelling lyrical skills, and punk rock abandonment of social norms. A strong bet to be one of your favorite songs on the album, but probably not your wife’s favorite.

“Dark Art” is, as advertised, dark. Perhaps best described as a gothic progressive art rock track. Dark and brooding, it could easily be one of the extra songs in an extended-length remake of Phantom of the Opera.

Amanda White

photo by Kyle Schneider; photo courtesy of Amanda White

“Ruder” marks a return of the raucous kitten who cares not, and it leads into the closest thing you’ll find to a ballad on this album, “Someone’s Watching Over You.” The instrumentation at times hints at an uneasiness you might find in certain Rockwell and Sting tunes that shall go unnamed, but the melody is memorable, the vocals soar theatrically – the song is even a little Annie-ish if Annie were singing about punk or goth sunshine – and, in the end, this song is either comforting or disconcerting, depending on your mood at the time.

Next up is the catchiest, hookiest track on the disc – the obvious choice for a hit single – “Where the Hell is Amy?” An energetic raw, bar-crawl pop-rocker with a fun, naughty, trashy attitude, “Where the Hell is Amy?” is a party anthem for good times, spilled beer, and questionable decision-making.

“Adora” follows with a thick-as-molasses wall of heavy progressive rock sound that brings the rawk back. It’s a musical, emotional tour de force that brings the album nearly to its conclusion, followed by the equally heavy, progressive, thick “Fade.” Oh, but where “Adora” strikes a regretful, reminiscent tone, “Fade” skews far more ominous and dark. And yet, as prog as most of the song is, the chorus skews punk, tying the elements of Kittens… together nicely. This, I suppose, is the true magnum opus on the disc, clocking in at three seconds shy of eight minutes… and ending with the album’s final lyrics “Endlessly, endlessly die.” Well, that’s happy.

Amanda White

photo by Geoff Wilbur

Prog rock, rock opera, punk rock, some opera-style vocals and Broadway moments, all with a punk attitude, frequently with punk riffs, often with progressive arrangements. With her amazing voice, Amanda hits some big notes. There’s clear theatrical influence in some of the songs. Amanda knows how to write a hook… when she wants to. And she and her band have the chops to skew progressive more than a non-pure-prog band typically does. That’s why her sound is so unique – Kittens Give Zero Fucks is punk if you must categorize it, but if you chose the right two or three songs, you could convince a listener it’s a very odd prog rock album. So, whether punk is your go-to genre, or you’re a broad-based music fan who likes variety and enjoys talent wherever it lies, or if this is one of a handful of punk recordings – perhaps the only one – you dig because it’s a take on your progressive or operatic and theatrical musical tastes, Kittens… is unlike anything in your collection. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Looking Ahead

Amanda doesn’t have any upcoming gigs scheduled, but keep an eye on the “Events” tab of her Facebook page for any future performances.

Live Review: Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

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Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

photo by Geoff Wilbur

Amanda White

ONCE Somerville, Somerville, MA

April 15, 2019

I had intended to get out to an Amanda White show for a while now, and this was a Monday night when my schedule fell into place, and the start time was early enough that it didn’t impede getting home at a reasonable hour; I love early shows on work nights. So I ventured out to this gig, even though it meant traveling to the severely-parking-impaired town of Somerville. (I promise I’ll try to avoid a Somerville parking rant in this review. Mostly.)

Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

photo by Geoff Wilbur

I arrived in time for Amanda’s set. Backed by a talented band, she took the stage by storm. Amanda’s style is very old-school punk. Raw but tuneful music with a penchant for random profanity. But it extends well beyond that, as you can hear prog influences, while some songs feature Amanda’s venture into soaring, operatic vocal run that few can equal. If you know anything about my musical recommendations, you’ll know they’re either for well-performed pure musical styles or, more often, those with obvious external influences from a number of often-surprising other sources. You know, that plus great vocals and songwriting. Indeed, my punk rock recommendations are rare, but they are all must-listens.

Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

photo by Geoff Wilbur

The evening mostly featured songs from Amanda White’s latest CD, Kittens Give Zero Fucks. Prior to this show, I had only listened to the album online a couple of times. Though I’m more familiar with the music now, I’ll stick to my notes from the evening for this review. There’s a more detailed album review coming sometime in the future.

Amanda and her band opened the set with, according to my notes, “that soaring, moaning song.” Gotta be disc-opener “Last to Bite.” Next up was “Fuckall Rockstar,” delivered live in its full punk rock glory, much more distorted than on the recording. Exceptionally crunchy axework and an engaging driving rhythm provided the support, while the soaring vocals were opera meets Broadway meets punk. That vocal blend – one Amanda’s uniquely capable of achieving – is a recurring theme.

Energetic rocker “Whackadoodle World” (the “oh oh oh oh oh oh oh” song, per my notes) brought a bit more straightforward rocking energy to the set. Then catchy “Ur Wife,” with its hypnotic rhythm, followed.

Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

photo by Geoff Wilbur

After a soaring fifth song (“Dark Art”), Amanda reached back to her first disc, Toyshop, for “Monica’s Getting Her Tits Done,” a tune musically catchy largely due to the recurring rhythm guitar hook.

The evening’s seventh track (noted simply as “rawks!!!”) was followed by the evening’s power ballad, “Someone’s Watching Over Me,” a song that showcases vocal versatility while still being haunting and dark.

Speaking of haunting and dark – and throw in a healthy dose of foreboding – and you’re talking about the first few minutes of “Fade” before guitar and drums help the song build to a scream. With its power shifts and movements, there was a bit of a Broadway flavor to the evening’s performance of “Fade.”

And, to close our the set Amanda closed with soaring, symphonic prog-metal “Adora.” And what better set-ender. Though punk-rock attitude permeates the performance – a pure New York-style punk rock double-bill with Bad Mary would be an unforgettable event – Amanda’s singing and songwriting versatility are what sets her apart. And she and her band rocked this particular Somerville evening. Hard. Raw. And powerfully.

Allison & Moon

Allison & Moon; photo by Geoff Wilbur

The Evening’s Other Bands

The opening and closing acts of the evening were also worth catching, even though I kind-of didn’t. Evening openers The James Rocket caught my ear in my pre-show listening, but my attendance at its set fell victim to the “circling Somerville looking for parking” portion of the evening; I arrived in time to catch the last few seconds of the group’s final song. The closing set by Allison & Moon was a treat, or at least it was for as long as I stayed, but I only caught a few songs and took no notes, so I’ll have to catch them again one of these days.

Amanda White at ONCE Somerville

photo by Geoff Wilbur

Looking Ahead

Be sure to check Amanda White’s Facebook page for future gigs. At the moment, the only one listed is a February 8, 2020 show at Connolly’s in New York. The evening’s closing band, Allison & Moon, next plays on December 11th at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA.