Dulcie Younger and the Silencers

Kitty, Kitty...Growl! (2004)

Jordan Rogowski

What I have here in front of me is honestly something that I can say I've never heard before. Looking like a fifties pin-up model with the voice of Patsy Cline, Dulcie Younger and her Silencers make it known that the rock'n'roll of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly isn't quite dead just yet.

Kitty, Kitty…Growl! is a bouncy, fun trip over ten songs that doesn't ever try to be any more than it actually is. These are the most simple of rock'n'roll tunes, although some might contest it leans more towards the rockabilly end of the spectrum. The fact remains that the songs are really easy to listen to, and really easy to like. The guitar work is just the kind of stuff you'd expect to hear with a traditional rock'n'roll record, and the tones given off are completely authentic to the time period that the band is emulating. Obviously, they're not going to be the most difficult of songs to play, but that doesn't mean the attention to detail is there, and that doesn't mean they can't differentiate from the norm when it calls for it. "Bumble Bee Sting" is a bouncy, rollicking track, and it's one where the guitar is able to play more than some deep grooves, but throw some real great rhythms into the mix as well.

But it's neither the drumming nor the guitar work that's the star here, it's Dulcie Younger herself.

Commanding each song with a voice as sultry as it is angelic, it seems she almost effortlessly croons over each and every track. Whether it be more upbeat efforts like "Smoking Gun" and "Bad Luck Baby," or a slower, more country sounding track like "If Silence Is Golden," I simply can't get away from the fact that Younger's voice sounds absolutely perfect. Her words glide effortlessly over everything, and you get the distinct feeling that no other singer could take her place in the band. Beautiful and talented, there's no doubt in my mind that she's the entire package. My only real gripe is that even though there's ten songs and barely more than twenty minutes of music. A minor gripe, I suppose, but something that definitely could have been avoided by adding a track or two.

Definitely not the sort of thing I usually listen to, but a surprisingly solid record all around.