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On the Shelf 121: Kristeen Young
Jul. 23rd, 2014 06:49 pmNo relation to Neil. Ms. Young was a standout performer in the St Louis scene in the 90s, I am told, but by fate and timing, I never knew of her.
She has reached her greatest prominence as longtime opening act for Morrissey. A relationship (like many of Moz's) which ended badly, as Moz accuses Kristeen of making him sick and forcing him to cancel his US 2014 tour (which was bookended by performances in LA with Tom Jones and NYC with Cliff Richard). Although, Moz's reliability falls somewhere between George Jones and Axl Rose, I am clearly with KY on this one.
It should be noted that KY's fallout with Morrissey started when she started making comments about Morrissey's sexual prowess onstage, which is funny, because he's the one male who wouldn't want you to do that.
The new album The Knife Shift presents Kristeen as the next great angry woman in rock. Oddly, given the current state of indie music, this album feels like it should have been released in 2004, not 2014. Although Amanda Palmer is still a going proposition, this album seems like it would have fit better during the heyday of the Dresden Dolls and when Tori Amos was a constant chart presence, and when you could call your musical act Rasputina and be taken seriously as an artist
That's not Kristeen's fault. Those years 1997-2004 were here busy years too, and she was doing all the right things- dueting with Bowie on his Heathen, dueting with Brian Molko and with Bowie on her own albums, working with producer Tony Visconti.
Though, the landscape seems bare these days of the Polly Jeans and the Shirley Mansons, Young is staking things big here, working with Visconti and teaming up with high profile guests like Dave Grohl and Boz Boorer.
There's no real middle ground here. You either will adore her or think that she is as ludicrous as her male cockrock counterparts. Songs with titles like "Pictures of Sasha Gray" and lyrics like "I am such a slut, I have twelve hot spots", leave little room for subtlety.
While Y2K-era seems like an obvious touchpoint, 80s new wave is another obvious one. Young is as daring as she wants to be, and would have fit in fine in the days of Nina Hagen and Dale Bozzio, maybe better than she fits in 2014. I can't go too far without mentioning the obvious, as I have yet to see a review that doesn't mention Kate Bush.
However, I see Kristeen much more in tune with the 2nd and 3rd generation of Bush influence. Similarly, it's hard not to think of an obvious Morrissey influence, but giving it some thought is closer to his 90s-heirs like Suede, Gene, Echobelly, and The Dears.
Obviously, with ambitions like these, the album is a bit all over the place, but for me when, it's good, it's great (and dare I say, better than anything her old boss has done recently), and when it misses, it's still pretty good.
She has reached her greatest prominence as longtime opening act for Morrissey. A relationship (like many of Moz's) which ended badly, as Moz accuses Kristeen of making him sick and forcing him to cancel his US 2014 tour (which was bookended by performances in LA with Tom Jones and NYC with Cliff Richard). Although, Moz's reliability falls somewhere between George Jones and Axl Rose, I am clearly with KY on this one.
It should be noted that KY's fallout with Morrissey started when she started making comments about Morrissey's sexual prowess onstage, which is funny, because he's the one male who wouldn't want you to do that.
The new album The Knife Shift presents Kristeen as the next great angry woman in rock. Oddly, given the current state of indie music, this album feels like it should have been released in 2004, not 2014. Although Amanda Palmer is still a going proposition, this album seems like it would have fit better during the heyday of the Dresden Dolls and when Tori Amos was a constant chart presence, and when you could call your musical act Rasputina and be taken seriously as an artist
That's not Kristeen's fault. Those years 1997-2004 were here busy years too, and she was doing all the right things- dueting with Bowie on his Heathen, dueting with Brian Molko and with Bowie on her own albums, working with producer Tony Visconti.
Though, the landscape seems bare these days of the Polly Jeans and the Shirley Mansons, Young is staking things big here, working with Visconti and teaming up with high profile guests like Dave Grohl and Boz Boorer.
There's no real middle ground here. You either will adore her or think that she is as ludicrous as her male cockrock counterparts. Songs with titles like "Pictures of Sasha Gray" and lyrics like "I am such a slut, I have twelve hot spots", leave little room for subtlety.
While Y2K-era seems like an obvious touchpoint, 80s new wave is another obvious one. Young is as daring as she wants to be, and would have fit in fine in the days of Nina Hagen and Dale Bozzio, maybe better than she fits in 2014. I can't go too far without mentioning the obvious, as I have yet to see a review that doesn't mention Kate Bush.
However, I see Kristeen much more in tune with the 2nd and 3rd generation of Bush influence. Similarly, it's hard not to think of an obvious Morrissey influence, but giving it some thought is closer to his 90s-heirs like Suede, Gene, Echobelly, and The Dears.
Obviously, with ambitions like these, the album is a bit all over the place, but for me when, it's good, it's great (and dare I say, better than anything her old boss has done recently), and when it misses, it's still pretty good.
