‘Sweet Tooth’ is Kilo Tango’s two-part, springtime song of self-destruction turned to challenging yet joyful redemption.
The opening of Kilo Tango’s new single, ‘Sweet Tooth’, takes me right back to the delicious candy store of slightly more lo-fi 90s post-grunge, post-garage. Think Veruca Salt without the crunch and a lighter Sugar, but with a female vocalist instead of Bob Mould.
Katie Mitchell’s light and playful yet ferociously confident and sardonic delivery of lines like ‘I have a sweet tooth lately, and I have a lot of cavities’ and ‘Too much of something sweet will tear your body apart’ hits the spot! Meanwhile, Evan Mui’s guitar lick proudly wears its late 80s Pixies influence front and center, adding just the right amount of tension behind the voice.
Tbh, the description of ‘Sweet Tooth’ provided on Kilo Tango’s Spotify gave me the impression the song would sound rather dark; however, we’re showered in a glowing, joyful tune (contrasting with some of the lyrics, no doubt!) that is perfectly timed for a Spring release. But if the sweetness is self-destruction, it’s time to end that behavior, as hard as it may be. The track’s big change just about halfway through with the line ‘Don’t think I can’t see what’s happening’ gently floats us into a drifty groove featuring Mui’s noodling guitar while Mitchell pulls herself out of the despair she’d grown accustomed to and seems to have generally expected to continue; she sings, ‘I’m so used to being here’ as she finds her redemption.
Written by Greg Gobel
