鈥淚nherit is a sort of psychedelic freak-folk record. It鈥檚 like going down and playing in the stream. Just the opposite of a harsh winter.鈥
Try to squeeze the love out of something and you鈥檒l find its essence vanishes. Poof. And so it is with Free Kitten鈥檚 latest pirouette, Inherit, their third album, that is a decade apart from its closest sibling. In a recent conversation with veteran, Kim Gordon, the yin of Sonic Youth, Aesthetica learned about the all-star femme line up, which also includes Pussy Galore鈥檚 Julie Cafritz and the Boredoms鈥 Yoshimi P-We.
All music lovers have their old standbys. When asked about long time influences, Gordon was quick to note that Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and Syd Barrett have always been mainstays, and rightfully so. 鈥淏ut, Free Kitten has always been influenced by the Royal Trux and lately some MV & EE.鈥
鈥Inherit is a sort of psychedelic freak-folk record,鈥 Gordon notes. 鈥淭he other Free Kitten albums were harsh, with a New York vibe. This one鈥檚 more natural. It鈥檚 beautiful like summer, blooming and green. It鈥檚 like going down and playing in the stream. Just the opposite of a harsh winter.鈥
Recorded at the home of J. Mascis, of Dinosaur Jr. fame, who lives near Gordon and Cafritz in the artsy outpost of Western Massachusetts, Inherit courses viscerally via non-meticulous tunings. Sure, there鈥檚 Sonic screech, and some Pussy punk so characteristic of the early Riot Grrrl years. And just to be clear, Japanoise makes a stand. But, when shaken, the cocktail far outweighs its parts.
Inherit nails it, undeniably, in the instrument that is Gordon鈥檚 voice. In the same way that dreams are seen behind the eyes, Gordon鈥檚 vocals take you by the hand to the other side. Her essence is at once lonely, ephemeral, esoteric, and oceanic. What Nico is to the Velvet Underground, Gordon is to Free Kitten (and Sonic Youth).
An excellent composition and a refreshingly arty album, Inherit is poised to draw in devotees and newbies alike with tunes like the album opener, Erected Girl, an airy and gritty guitar mantra. Monster Eye is a trippy, indie jam that requires patience to grasp its paradoxical fluidity and single-pointedness. Per Gordon, 鈥渢he song鈥檚 spoken text is kind of a deconstruction of a guy playing guitar.鈥 Bananas features J. Mascis on drums and brings punk back. The album鈥檚 achievement and anthem, Free Kitten on the Mountain, however, presents a ghostly, primordial, and ritualistic display of the feminine. There鈥檚 something intensely soft and feverish it its nature, akin to fire gazing under a quarter moon in the space between light and shadow.
Inherit as a whole pays homage to the lost art of making an album versus a hit. It sits in the belly of an emotional crucible, containing a few moments of disarray, where the hair is wild and the heart occasionally lost. There鈥檚 enough scaffolding here, however, to keep the listener focused, and enough wanderlust to keep enchantment alive. Turn it up. Dive in and swim aimlessly, with abandon, until you鈥檙e out of breath. Inherit, released in May 2008, is available at .
Celeste Federico
