MORGAN LANDER Names KITTIE’s Most Underrated Track

Kittie‘s debut album Spit hit like a thunderclap in 1999, cementing the band’s place in the nü-metal scene. Tracks like “Brackish” became instant anthems, propelling the all-female Canadian group into the spotlight during a time when the genre was dominated by men. However, when Metal Hammer magazine recently asked frontwoman Morgan Lander to pick her favorite Kittie deep cut, she didn’t hesitate in selecting a track from that album that she thinks “flew mostly under the radar” at the time.

“Hilarious and controversial song title aside, I think that that song is the dark horse of the album,” Lander shared. “‘Brackish’ is a huge song for a lot of people, even to this day. There’s ‘Charlotte,’ and ‘Spit’ being the opening song sets the tone. But ‘Do You Think I’m A Whore’ has flown under the radar as one of my personal favorites and one of the heaviest songs on the album.”

“It’s about holding a mirror up to yourself and also exploring the ideas of perception and who others might think I am,” Lander explained. “Early on, there were a lot of people who judged us for our looks, how we wanted to dress, how we wanted to portray ourselves as young women, and our validity did come into question. I think, unfortunately, a lot of women still have to struggle with these things, even to this day.”

Despite the song’s personal and cultural significance, it disappeared from Kittie‘s live sets for two decades. But the band recently dusted it off, bringing it back for their performance at the 2023 Sick New World festival. The reception confirmed what Lander had long believed — that the song resonates just as strongly today as it did when it was first released.

“We brought the song back for the Sick New World festival, and it went down really well,” Lander said. “I think the song sort of transcends nü-metal, but we have embraced the association with nü-metal in having been there for the biggest hype of it and representing women in the genre as well. But that song just resonates with people. It’s so heavy, it’s so impactful. It really translates well live and it’s a lot of fun for us to play.”

“The band that we are now is very different to the band we were then. But it was a choice to bring it back live, because it does still hold up in a way alongside a lot of our newer material in terms of how heavy it is,” Lander said. “I think it has an enduring quality, and it is a great representation of the band and who we were back then.”

The return of “Do You Think I’m A Whore” is sort of a re-affirmation of Kittie‘s unique place in nü-metal history. As one of the few female-fronted bands to achieve mainstream success in the genre, their influence is undisputable, even if the path they carved wasn’t always smooth.

“There are still hurdles to overcome, but there is a lot more representation in metal and extreme music,” Lander acknowledged. “I wouldn’t claim it myself, but I have heard some people say that Kittie walked so others could run. We did endure a lot in the music industry as young women.”