'Tuned In' review: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis smoke with casual charm

"Smoking in Heaven" by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

“Smoking in Heaven,” Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (Verve Forecast)

Family bands are an old-fashioned idea, so it’s fitting that Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have such an old-fashioned sound on “Smoking in Heaven.”

The three North London siblings — last name Durham — are helped along by their music-veteran parents, Graeme Durham and Ingrid Weiss, who contribute to the production and songwriting of the release that was recorded in the elder Durham’s vintage home studio using analog tape and ribbon microphones.

The group’s spirited sound is a melange of roots rock, swing, jump blues and more, resulting in something of an adult-oriented, old-school dance music built on rollicking rhythms and loose singing.

All three siblings alternate at lead vocals, and though none of them are technically great at it, they all compensate with charisma and swagger. Daisy jumps into the plucky roll of “You’ll Soon Be Here” with, “I want you for the rest of my life”; Kitty sasses on the harmonica-blasted “You’ll Be Sorry” with, “When you see me with my baby, you’ll be sorry you’re not mine”; and Lewis meshes into the rumbling honky-tonk blues of “Don’t Make a Fool Out of Me” with, “Tell me what the use of having you is for, ‘cause oh baby, you’re making a fool out of me.”

“Smoking in Heaven” is all over the place with its rotating vocalists and a sound that’s based on a horn section one minute and something akin to modern R&B the next. But improbably enough, the band’s casual atmosphere is what makes it cohesive.

Meanwhile, even though Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are guilty of overextending simple lyrical refrains and grooves to the point it sounds like bad marketing, they pull it off with disarming panache.

Ultimately, “Smoking in Heaven” could be habit forming, with no dangerous side effects.

Rating (five possible): 3-1/2

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