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Pleasant Beach Major Credit Cards Accepted Ample Free Parking, music preview The Canadian group Kittie's "Spit" captures a promising group of musicians who are bringing some fresh twists to the heavy-metal form. 'Spit' and polish Female rockers 'Kittie' aren't throwing any hissy fits ince last fall, when advance copies of Kittie's debut CD "Spit" began to circulate, the Canadian group has garnered an impressive amount of coverage in the music press. Certainly, demographics make Kittie stand out from the crowd. The band features four young women whose ages range from 15 to 17, and with a roiling, fierce brand of music, they are making waves in the male-dominated new metal genre. Those are subjects that virtually every article discusses.

But singer Morgan Lander believes they aren't the main reasons Kittie has drawn so much attention. "I would hope it's not true because it's sort of like when we formed this band, when we got together, it was never really a case that we were like, 'OK, let's go out and find another girl guitarist. Let's make it an all-girl band," she said. "I try not to think that we're being segregated at all because I personally don't feel like we are. A lot of the bands that we've been touring with, we tour with a lot of guy bands, and they seem to come to us with open arms.

They seem to be enjoying the music, and it's really like the fact that we're females doesn't really come into play as the thing that makes us different. It's the music." Lander's point is well taken. "Spit" captures a promising group of musicians who are bringing some fresh twists to the heavymetal form. Like that of many of today's extreme bands, Kittie's sound features plenty of heavy, surging, detuned guitar riffs (courtesy of guitarist Fallon Bowman). But a point of difference emerges in the vocals of Morgan Lander, who can jump from screaming fury one second to a supple, sweet singing voice the next.

An even more unusual signature, By ALAN SCULLEY Correspondent is the inventive rhythms supplied by drummer Mercedes Lander (Morgan's younger sister) and bassist Tanya Candler (who has since left the group). Songs such as "Charlotte," "Do You Think I'm a Whore," 'Trippin' and "Brackish" (the CD's techno-laced first single) feature intriguing shifts in tempo and KITTIE Sunday at the Birch Hill Nite Club, Route 9 South, Old Bridge $9.50 in advance; $11.50 at the door (732) 536-0650 imaginative drum patterns and fills that bring considerable tension and dynamics to the songs. Lyrically, Kittie offers some fresh ideas as well. Song titles such as "Do You Think I'm a Whore," "Suck" and "Choke" at first seem titillating and suggestive. But a closer listen to these and others reveals themes of confronting prejudices and abuse, while building a strong selfand a sense of pride and determination.

The turmoil in the band's lyrics is nothing new for metal, but the positive spin Kittie puts on many of its songs is a unique dimension. Morgan Lander admits that the deeper messages in Kittie's music have sometimes gone undetected but perhaps not as often as one might expect. "I think for the most part, the people who enjoy this music the most, and the people who relate to this sort of music and relate to the truthfulness of metal, have gotten the message," she said. "The kids are younger, the people who buy the albums, and they can relate to what we're saying because we're young and we see eye-to-eye with them. And I think the misconceptions come with the older sort of media-type people, the journalists." More people than ever will have a chance to hear the words and music of Kittie for themselves this summer when the group is featured at Ozzfest, Ozzy Osbourne's annual multiband tour that has grown into the world's premier heavy metal road show.

The tour will cap what has been a remarkably fast ascent for Kittie, which formed in 1996 after Mercedes Lander and Bowman met in a high school gymnastics class in their hometown of London, Ontario. The band spent some two years jamming and honing its sounds in the Lander basement before venturing out into the clubs of London. The big break came when the band landed a showcase slot during Toronto's CMW music festival in early 1999. Jason Wyner, vice president and manager of Ng Records, was at the show and signed the band to the label, which later that year merged with the fast-rising New York independent label, Artemis Records. By August of 1999, "Spit" was completed and a fall release was planned.

Then came a brief setback that left Kittie momentarily stunned the sudden departure of bassist Candler. "We were gearing up actually to release the album in late October," Morgan Lander said. "And she kind of left us holding the bag and we were kind of pondering whether or not the album was ever going to get Fortunately, those doubts dissipated when Mercedes Lander located a friend of hers, Talena Atfield, who was eager to sign on as Kittie's bassist. The release of "Spit" was held back until January, but the band has been on a fast track ever since..