Nu and Re-Imagined: Kittie’s Spit XXV

What bands do you think of when it comes to the early-2000s nu-metal era?

Probably Korn, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit. Well, in January 2000, an all-female Canadian band released the explosive Spit. Kittie became one of the most prominent nu-metal acts of the time, which was an especially impressive feat considering that all the members were teenagers at the time of production. In the twenty-five years since the release of Spit, this album has helped to redefine the place of women within the metal scene. Female-fronted metal bands continue to cite songs like “Brackish” and “Spit” as notable influences even twenty-five years later. 

So, when it came time for the twenty-fifth anniversary, Kittie sought to reimagine and update four of the most prominent songs for Spit XXV. These four songs are:  “Spit XXV”, “Do You Think I’m a Whore? XXV”, “Brackish XXV”, and “Charlotte XXV”. Kittie once again teamed up with Gary Richardson, the album's original producer, for this re-recording. 

Photo courtesy of Kerrang

At their core, these four tracks are the same, with the same brash and confrontational energy seeping through them. However, you can hear the thirty years of experience. “Spit”, “Brackish”, and “Charlotte” were already fan favorites for their raw and confrontational adolescent angst. However, in their XXV counterparts, Kittie revisits them with a fresh layer of polish that revitalizes these songs for newer audiences. “Do You Think I’m a Whore? XXV” is the most sonically evolved, growing new claws and becoming even heavier than it was originally. Frontwoman, Morgan Lander, brings forward more aggressive growls, while the rest of the instrumentation supports the more confrontational sound of this EP.

In an interview with Kerrang, Morgan even stated that when she listens to “the old and new versions back-to-back back it sounds like the same songs being played by a different band,” which I must agree with. However, this is not a bad thing at all. The twenty-five years have actually lent themselves well to the audio mixing and production, allowing more of the instrumentation to shine through the original 2000s sludgy sound. In this way, it’s even easier to appreciate the work that the band puts into these songs. 

Along with the re-records of the four songs, Kittie also debuted a new music video for “Do You Think I’m a Whore? XXV”. While I don’t think that Spit XXV replaces the original from 2000, this reimagined EP fills a new space within the same playlist. The new EP is heavier and more polished in many aspects; however, sometimes you may just want to revisit the pure teen angst from the original.