ABOUT TLK
The Lounge Kittens: The story of the 3 girls who ruined your favourite songs...
The Lounge Kittens was devised by Jenny Deacon and Timia Gwendoline, who met during a production of Sondheim's 'Company' (as Amy and Joanne respectively). In late 2012, Zan Lawther, a mutual friend from choir was drafted in during an evening of gin-fuelled refreshment...
The heavenly notes of 'The Vengabus is Coming' had surrounded the Kittens like an ethereal mist as they cackled around a suspiciously sticky table in The Dungeon club, Southampton. Some may argue that this ethereal mist was actually the lung-blackening splutterings of an over-worked fog machine well past its prime, coupled with the personal gases of the fragrant patrons of the Dungeon...
As the green lasers caught the smoke and reflected onto their faces, they stopped exchanging disgusting anecdotes for a moment to dwell upon the fact that Vengaboys should probably be brought back to the masses; stripped back to piano with thick harmonies, the heartfelt lyrics performed dripping with sarcasm, errr..I mean, feeling. Emotion. That one.
Photo: Paul Harries
Very little was done to follow through on this promise until Jenny booked the Kittens for a handful of shows over the summer and they hastily set about actually putting their pennies where their mouths were, which you should never do; it's disgusting and very unhygienic. You never know where a penny has been...
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Their debut shows struck a chord with audiences and bookings started to come in for private parties, charity events, cabarets, boozy pub shows, weddings, and support slots in sweaty rock clubs for sweaty rock bands.
Then came the videos. Spurred on by their success as a live outfit it was decided that a music video should be made. One sunny afternoon in February 2014 the girls commandeered a beautiful house and an even more beautiful Ferrari and filmed a ridiculous video to accompany their version of Limp Bizkit's 'Rollin'. What happened next was a surprise to everyone. With a personal endorsement from Mr Limp Bizkit himself (Fred Durst) the video sky-rocketed into the virtual stratosphere.
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In summer 2014 the Kittens knocked audiences for six at Glastonbury and Sonisphere festivals (among others) and were invited to open Limp Bizkit's set on the main stage at Sonisphere!
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In 2015 they took off on a UK and European arena tour with the bad boys of heavy metal Steel Panther and then rampaged through Download Festival, Grasspop, Boardmasters and returned to Glastonbury for the second year in a row.
From YouTube to Wembley in one nimble leap they surprised audiences with their tongue-in-cheek covers, acerbic wit and ability to swear in three part harmony, proving that they could hold the attention of the heaviest of metal fans armed with just a keyboard and their voices.
2016 saw the release of their debut album ‘Sequins & C-Bombs’ which was born out of a highly successful PledgeMusic campaign. The ladies smashed their target in less than three weeks and their engaging fan-focussed campaign saw them surpass 200% before the album’s release on 16 September. Jam-packed full of their humorous, entertaining and technically challenging covers, this time they’d spread themselves even further across the genres as they tackled tracks from Rammstein to Usher and everything in between. With an accompanying headline UK tour seeing them sell out London’s iconic 100 Club, numerous festival appearances including IOW Festival’s Big Top stage and a sell-out stint at Edinburgh Fringe with their cabaret show ‘Everybody Hates The Lounge Kittens’ underneath their belts, the Kittens took off around the UK in December 2016 as the opening act for Status Quo’s ‘Last Night of the Electrics’ Tour which saw them conquer London’s O2 Arena.
2017 saw the Kittens hit the road again with more UK tour dates and a return to Donnington Park and Download Festival, this time cycling there as part of a charity ride with the Heavy Metal Truants, as well as hitting the hattrick at Glastonbury. They jumped on board Jaret Reddick's (Bowling for Soup) tour bus for the Heartache & Hilarity tour in September 2017 too, forming the top secret supergroup 'Disappointing Sandwich' along the way.
In 2018 the Kittens sold out every single headline show, appeared at IOW Festival and supported 2 Cellos at Kew the Music. They went back into the studio, launching a new PledgeMusic campaign, this time to fund their new mini-album ‘Have Another…’. The campaign hit its target in only 24 hours but left the ladies struggling to fulfil pledges due to major financial issues with PledgeMusic. They were well and truly fucked over by the collapse of PledgeMusic, who took down thousands of their fans' pounds with them. Not ones to be beaten by a lack of cash, the Kittens rallied and thanks to a lot of hard work and the incredible generosity of their fans, friends and family the EP was released, as planned, on 15th March 2017, as the Kittens headed out on another headline tour of the UK.
It looked like there was no stopping the rampage of the Kittens as they returned to Glastonbury in 2019 as well as opening for Electric Six at London's famous Shepherd's Bush Empire. But alas, as with all good things in life, this too came to an end. With an almost eerie sixth sense of what might be to come the Kittens announced to the world that they had had enough. Financial burdens, personal commitments and the overall strain of what it takes to be in a band were lauded as the root causes of their demise and they planned their final shows for February 2020.
Taking their final bows mere days before the world sank into lockdowns, on that weird extra day you get in a leap year, some have said the timing of their exit stage left was almost suspicious...
They post-humously released their final album 'The Lounge Kittens Do It... Live' featuring recordings from the final shows, as well as their 2018 show at London's St Pancras Old Church, alongside a full live video of their final ever performance at Southampton's 1865. You can watch and listen forever on all the usual platforms.
But for now, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, we've been The Lounge Kittens: rock sluts in disguise and we had a very, very good time.
Praise for The Lounge Kittens:
"TLK are the most amazing group of singers. Funny, talented and sexy. I think one day we will be opening for them.” – Michael Starr, Steel Panther
"Loving it" - Fred Durst, Limp Bizkit
"I love your version - killer job!" - Corey Taylor, Slipknot
"Exquisite" - Frankie Poullain, The Darkness
“Three of the partiest Kittens I know!” – Andrew W.K.
"SOME OF THE STUFF I'VE HEARD YOU GIRLS DO IS BETTER THAN WANKING" - Francis Rossi, Status Quo
"You have the makings of a very interesting act. The music industry is crying out for something different" - Danny Bowes, Thunder
"The three of you sing better than anyone I know" - Mark Thomas, Black Spiders