Humble Beginnings, Bitter Endings and Brand New Starts .
When Steve and Gary formed their first band back in 1992, they didn’t really know where it would take them or what they really wanted (apart from worldwide fame and riches beyond their wildest dreams!). The original band had the imagery of the Monkeys and personalities of the Who. They didn’t get on particularly well as people but as a band, were dynamite. An album “ Progress? †was recorded which showed great promise in the songwriting partnership that Steve and Gary were developing.
This great chemistry lasted for a few years until Bill the bass player and their very own Keith Moon left the band. A replacement was found, and then they recorded the tour-de-force album “ Won’t Reach the Fifth â€. Over the next few years they continued in the vain search for a “Won’t Reach the Sixthâ€. In “ Won’t Reach the Fifth †they’d conquered their mountain. Now they were faced with finding another mountain to climb.
Band members continued to be shed everywhere and new ones found until STIFF KITTENS as a touring band had gone as far as it was destined to go, culminating with the mini-tour of N.Y.C. in spring 2005 and then drawing to a close at the end of that year.
At the start of 2006 , discussions about the possibility of song-writing together again started between Gary and Steve. After all, they didn’t do such a bad job of it the last time around and further more, both at last seemed to shouting from the same script again. They decided to start writing a new STIFF KITTENS album that would comprise of just Steve and Gary doing what they did best, writing songs and having fun! The live version of the band had by now faded away and there hadn’t really been a proper full stop at the end. If they recorded a new album of Kittens material that was of a calibre that would make them both proud then there would be the full stop they both wanted. Also as the two original founding members, they could do really what the hell they liked!
2008 WILL see the exciting release of another STIFF KITTENS studio based album as various associated musicians get together to continue the STIFF KITTENS legacy.
A legacy that attracted the following comments,
"…you have A Stadium Ready Band…" John Porter - Red Distribution - Sony USA
"…Stiff Kittens, They Can, And They Will…!!!" Steve Brown - Producer - Mentor
"...You were good!!!...But not as good as us!…Respect!…" Scott Gorham - Thin Lizzy
"…on this evidence I agree that Stiff Kittens will break through this coming year. Just love the drum sound and the guitars sound like guitars are supposed to…" Jase Burns - Power FM
"…the natural heirs to the Valleys Rock Crown of the early Manics …" BBC Music Website
"…they are good, very good, expect to be hearing much more of them on TotalRock soon…" Malcolm Dome - Total Rock FM
"…superb songwriters and arrangers….the sound of a band destined to be huge…songs that most of the current crop of Welsh bands can only dream about writing…" Rhythm & Booze
"…we were blown away by the artistic ability of this band…" Z-Warp HardRock Radio
"…nice chimes and distant guitar crashes…highly professional…big riding guitars and spaced vocals, rousing chorus and pounding hooks…" New Welsh Music
"…it's so down and dirty and compelling that you can stuff your Limp Bizkits and your Linkin Parks and listen to a rock band that manage to be loud AND have tunes.." ROCKBOX Radio
"…well collected Modern Rock that's neither cliché nor contrived, but well composed and sensuous…they're comfortable to rise above the mainstream…with a post-Punk freshness….combining a hard edge with lush melodies, vocal clarity and spacious backing, reverberating arena-based audibility with familial sincerity… quite simply a class act !!!…" US Rock Tipsheet
"...a band of note is Stiff Kittens…They have an untamed rawness that you hope somebody could grab and point in the right direction…manage to capture the live sound of the band in a studio without losing any of the dynamics they have…" Welsh Rock Tipsheet
"…this song will fit smack dab in the middle of the American Radio Dial..." Rockzilla USA
"…a joyous guitar-laden racket driven along by the heavy drums…" CDBaby USA
So that leaves it where it is now. Enjoy the web site [www.stiffkittens.com], as it celebrates every incarnation of the band and name checks EVERY member, past and present. It also includes all the music that the band had recorded under the name STIFF KITTENS . The further studio based material will be available from the site or from Raven Black Music .