Album Review: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis The Third

The Durham siblings remain a bit of a conundrum.

There’s a sincerity in the pose – the girls with their stocking seams straight and the boy’s hair perfectly slicked back. Not to mention the technical insistence on old-school instrumentation and analogue recording with musical inspiration seemingly coming from the family collection of antique 78rpm records.

This leads to an almost contrary range to their music – they genuinely swing at times, switch to a bluesy old-time rock’n’roll, or then find an almost jazzy groove to settle into. But there’s still that feeling of slight unease to it – it’s a Cliff Richard movie, as directed by David Lynch.

Baby Bye Bye adds to that feeling. It’s sauntering English skiffle, but there’s maybe something darker going on. You feel they might be smirking at you from behind the door, deciding whether to let you in on the joke. Perhaps encouraging that sense of mischief, the inspired choice of former Clash/BAD spiv Mick Jones as producer. His own 40 years of eclecticism lets them have their head, while keeping a solid musical base.

Ain’t Your Business chugs at you, while Turkish Delight is rattly near-ska. The brother and sisters harmonies then intertwine to give it a perhaps misleading sweetness. No Action then comes as a bit of a surprise with its sexual bluntness – the kiddies are growing up, it appears.

It maybe still doesn’t all quite fit together, but they’re more than a retro curiosity.