Here's Five: Kitty, Daisy And Lewis Share Songs That Inspired 'Superscope'

UK sibling trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are returning to Aotearoa for a special run of shows this weekend. They'll be accompanied by a slew of guests, playing alongside LA bluesman Blind Boy Paxton in Auckland, local songwriter Emily Fairlight in Hawkes Bay and Wellington, and with their father Graeme Durham at all three shows. The group will be performing tunes from their new record Superscope, which has met with substantial acclaim for its kaleidoscopic and tasty blend of rock'n'roll, soul, and blues. Appropriately enough, we asked the talented trio to shed some light on their inspirations behind the album to whet your appetite for this weekend's main event. Check out the band's expert picks with commentary provided by each member below...

1. Marie "Queenie" Lyons - See and Don't See

Kitty: I bought this record about two years ago and I've been obsessed with it ever since. The power of her voice carries the lyrics really well and it sounds like she means every word she's singing. The groove of the drums and bass is infectious and is well accompanied by the guitar and horns. It's this kind of production that I had in mind when writing 'Slave' from our new album.

2. Love Sculpture - Think of Love

Kitty: We used to listen to 'Sabre Dance' by Love Sculpture when we were kids, my mum would put the record on and we'd all jump around and go crazy. Years later I discovered the b-side. I think Dave Edmonds' guitar work on this is brilliant and I like the way it sounds, it was partly the influence for my guitar solo on 'The Game is On'. We achieved the sound by using a fuzz pedal that was home-made by Lewis. He calls it the "Hyperzoid Anus Blaster."

3. Blondie - X Offender

Daisy: Over the last couple years I’ve been listening to a lot more female punk and rock bands. Mainly 70s stuff. Debbie Harry being one of my faves. Not just great music, but she has a great attitude and presents on stage. Watching videos of her has helped me to become more confident when singing onstage. I used to feel slightly awkward when I was singing and not playing an instrument. Now I’m moving around a lot more which feels great. On Superscope I think that the songs I wrote also allow me to do that more as they have a bit more edge to them from what I’ve written in the past.

4. The Kinks - I’m Not Like Everybody Else

Daisy: I’m pretty obsessed with with the Kinks and have been for years. My mum used to have a lot of Kinks in her record collection, so we grew up listening to them. 'I’m Not Like Everybody Else' is actually a song that I only discovered a couple of years ago and it’s one of my faves. Ray Davies has a really evil way of singing it which kind of gets me excited. I love listening to this song when we’re away on tour in a random bar. Sometimes I feel like this song was written for me.

5. Jimmy McGriff - See See Rider

Lewis: Jimmy McGriff is a blues organist that I have been listening to for some years now. I say blues because that's the way he describes himself unlike other organ players of the time who called themselves "jazz" players. McGriff is one of my favourite players for sure. When we had recorded most of our album, we started to focus on what we were going to use for bonus tracks and b-sides. I realised we hadn't used any organ and so I started riffing at our Hammond A100. Kitty was playing guitar and with in about half an hour we had come up with 'Broccoli Tempura'. The name being an in joke taking the piss out of record company executives ordering fancy hipster food.

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are playing in Auckland, Hawkes Bay, and Wellington this coming weekend. Head along HERE for more details and ticketing info.