Hate Kate

A little raunch can go a long way -- not that Denver's Hate Kate would know. The sleaze sloshes like a tsunami out of the group's debut CD, It Is What You Think It Is. The title says it all: No holds are barred as the disc lays bare everything...

By Jason Heller

February 10, 2005

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A little raunch can go a long way -- not that Denver's Hate Kate would know. The sleaze sloshes like a tsunami out of the group's debut CD, It Is What You Think It Is. The title says it all: No holds are barred as the disc lays bare everything from delirious rage to the most intimate bodily functions. Formerly known as the Vestals, Hate Kate churns up a choppy, sloppy punk attack that straddles garage and riot grrrl even as it revels in soft-core sassiness. "Faking It" is an ode to, you guessed it, bogus orgasms, and "Chlamydia" lifts the touchy subject of STDs to the level of Greek tragedy -- or at least Jerry Springer. "Humanity," though, is the strongest track here, a skin-ripping chunk of rock that imagines if X had been a neighbor of SOA instead of Black Flag. There's not a shred of subtlety, sobriety or etiquette to It Is What You Think It Is (whose release will be celebrated Friday, February 11, at the Cherry Pit). But that's cool. With music this urgent and irreverent, all that crap only gets in the way.

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