If you’ve been following PPM’s journey through space and time you may recall seeing comments from one jsd [a.k.a.. Jon Drukman] for most of that journey. He’s a Bay Area musician, and though he’s got enough similarity of taste to have been a heavy commenter here @PPM, his own music is a little outside the typical popsong oriented PPM purview. The one thing he sent me way back when was his band Bass Kittens cover version of my fave rave Human League B-side, “Marianne.” Of course, I enjoyed it! It’s “Marianne!” how could I not? But recently he sent along the latest Bass Kittens single since it was so far removed from the techno/dub/abstract sounds [not that there’s anything wrong with that…] that Bass Kittens were known for he felt like it might be something for Ye Olde Monk. So we checked it out!

Bass Kittens: Something New – US – DL [2025]

1. Something New 4:34

Against the bass drum the guitar rang out with a clean tone while the percussion widened the soundstage as the choral patches sighed like train whistles in the night; complete with doppler shift. Vocalist Emma Rodriguez and the bass of Alexsander Dolgy began building up the sultry, late night vibe of the song. The only chill on the track came from the synths that stayed in the periphery of the song.

Emma filled out the song with her sometimes doubled vocal and BVs while the percussion programming [it’s all Jon Drukman on drum machine] kept things frisky. It really has a feel that brought me back to INXS ca. “Listen Like Thieves” with a sexy, analog groove. And just when I was thinking, “yeah…INXS” in came Bob Drukman on saxophone to nail that thought to my skull. See if you can see where I’m coming from.

So, unexpected new growth is always a good thing in my book. I’ve been known to say “yes” to things that are not my thing and see if I can grow in the process of resisting a pat knee-jerk reaction. Other bands might have fractured over such a stylistic volte-face, but since I think Bass Kittens are Drukman’s catch-all project name [with a rotating cast of collaborators], I guess he can do anything he wants to. If you’re ready for a stab at an INXS groove thang with a woman in the spotlight† then Bass Kittens have your poison at only 8 bits for the pleasure. DJ hit that button!

† – No one asked me but I always thought that INXS should have enlisted Chrissy Amphlette as their lead vocalist after Michael Hutchence died. I think she would have rocked, rocked, rocked…like a mother, like a mother, like a mother.