Skip the turning up of the nose at the silly band name — at least Rainbow Kitten Surprise have a convincing story: a friend and supporter of the band was in the ICU with a bad case of meningitis, loaded up on painkillers, and he suggested the name to the band before they played their first gig!

Along those lines, I finally got over judging band names last year when Car Seat Headrest made one of my fave albums of the year! Speaking of which …

After picking our top 10s, we musicheads traditionally look at other lists to see if we've missed anything. I swear, this crazy band name didn't show up anywhere. But then in doing the gig-list last week, I found that Rainbow Kitten Surprise had already sold out their show at The Entry last Thursday night. That always piques my interest: How do a band get a buzz going to sell out their first show in our town without us knowing about them?! When I listened, I could tell immediately there was potential. Rainbow Kitten Surprise reminded me of some old faves while simultaneously not sounding quite like anything else. They have that fragile sound, as if it could all come crashing down at any point.

That's one of the things that attracts me to bands like the The Fall and Modest Mouse, who, along with Kings of Leon, are among the bands Rainbow Kitten Surprise have name-checked as influences. This sound is matched with a brash, gritty, lyrical confidence belying their short life.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise got started in a dorm room in the small college town of Boone, N.C., in 2013. They've already released two albums and had a big Spotify hit with the track "Devil Like Me" off their debut; the video for "Devil Like Me" has been watched nearly 250,000 times on YouTube.

We've missed Rainbow Kitten Surprise here, but they continue to tour through March and will be at several of this year's big festivals, including Sasquatch and Bonaroo. I've been catching up on their string of sold-out shows this winter by checking out the reviews, and this one from The Observer in South Bend, Ind., is stunning!

Resources

Rainbow Kitten Surprise - official site