I was first introduced to Sidekick Kato in 1996 when I saw them in Grand Rapids at the Reptile House w/Apocalypse Hoboken. I was mostly listening to crappy epitaph punk at the time, so seeing a band like Sidekick Kato play that ‘mid 90′s quiet/loud emo’ live was quite memorable. They put on such a great show I don’t even remember AH’s set. Thankfully a friend bought this CD and I was able to dub a cassette, which I quickly wore through.
As a drummer, one of the reasons why I love this album so much is because of the drums’ sound. Bands from this era never seem to get the drums right. On First Class Chump they are pretty high in the mix esp. the snare and cymbals, which just cut through perfectly and sound huge. I remember when I saw them the drummer was just wailing on his kit. Coming from seeing bands where the drummer was playing so fast that their sticks barely came off the hi-hat or drummers trying to play lame bullshit fills, to seeing this guy just beat the shit out of his kit absolutely floored me. After seeing them, I played along with this album so much on my kit, it undoubtedly influenced my style of drumming.
I saw them again a couple years later when ‘I think I’m in Love’ was released and I wasn’t crazy about their set. None of the energy was there, and if I remember correctly, they lost a guitar player and the singer played a 2nd bass. Recently I’ve warmed up to ‘I think I’m in Love’ but however many years later ‘First Class Chump’ still holds up and is my favorite of theirs.
Hi! Love this band and this album. Could you please please please post more tracks to Youtube? I lost my copy of this CD years ago and it would mean a lot to me. Thanks.
Absolutely, any requests? Also I posted a DL link in the post, if you’d rather just grab the full album.
Sorry, feel like a dunce for not seeing the full LP link before. Thank you SO MUCH!
no worries, I actually changed the layout a bit because I was worried people were missing the download links. so this helped. thanks!
put the lyrics!
btw, many thanks for the DL
Wow, this album is great! I also saw them with Apocalypse Hoboken, in 1995. Love the album to this day and think it’s a shame that it isn’t better remembered/preserved. Favorite tracks: probably Elephant Shoes, Valentine, and Crashhappy, among many others.
I agree, not many people have heard of them. So many great songs, I’d have to struggle to find one that I didn’t like or thought didn’t fit on the album. I should post their Des Plaines 7″, Tatterfrock Comp song, and the split with Compound Red. All good songs. Thanks for the comment!
one of my favorite things about being a young adult in the Chicago area in the mid to late 90′s!
I definitely feel fortunate for living within driving distance to chicago. Spent a lot of time at fireside and the metro in the mid/late 90′s