Selected Press
20 Minute Loop
“Beautifully morose pop with catchy melodies and tight harmonies.” — NPR / ALL SONGS CONSIDERED
“Pop songsmiths of the highest caliber, adept at crafting idea-packed tracks that are clever, catchy and wholly engaging.” —THE BAY BRIDGED
“One of the more refreshing musical experiences I’ve had in months and months.” — PITCHFORK (Rated 8.5 out of 10)
“Delightfully twisted. ” — BLURT
"20 Minute Loop manages to incorporate this rock and roll indulgence while still retaining the kind of surefire pop smarts that other straightforward power-pop bands could envy. The singing combination of Giles and Atkins provides the melodic base for the band’s assault. Giles’s understated whining is aptly complemented by Atkins’s booming voice...Atkins, in particular, has a voice that combines the breezy joy of the Sundays with the ferocious power of Neko Case." — POPMATTERS
"...a lyrically-charged indie explosion that you’ll love so much you’ll feel perverted." — SPUTNIKMUSIC
"...its raw vocal exchanges, emotional lyrics, and off-kilter guitar and organ riffs strike a deep chord." — SF WEEKLY
"... And then there’s Kelly Atkins. The specters of death and lost love skulk around in her songs and, fittingly, she can sing as though her life hangs in the balance. There¹s a soothing sweetness to her harmonies, making it all the more powerful when she unleashes and wails. Clearly, the definitive piece of 20 Minute Loop’s sound is the interplay between Giles and Atkins. While sharing lead vocals across gender lines has become commonplace, it¹s rare for the voices to be both so complementary and so idiosyncratic. Despite some weighty subject matter, these are never ponderous songs. In fact, the band has never sounded so accessible." — ARTISTS DIRECT
"...a ridiculously fantastic mash-up of pop hooks, slide guitar riffs, and dueling boy/girl vocals that either intertwine perfectly or clash magnificently. Yawn + House = Explosion is the most absurdly addictive angst-pop record to emerge from the Bay Area in years..." — EAST BAY EXPRESS ("Catchiest Rock Band" - Best of the East Bay 2005)
Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble
“Simply amazing harmonies. . . truly this is the most wonderful singing I have ever heard.”
—David Crosby, CROSBY, STILLS, AND NASH
“A stunning group unlike any other. . . absolutely electrifying!”
—Garrison Keillor, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
"Kitka moved easily from tradition to tradition, as comfortable with the shrieks and howls of joyful celebration as with the quietest meditation..."
— Joan Reinthaler, WASHINGTON POST
“KITKA’s songs are hauntingly beautiful, simple, yet otherworldly. The rich sound these women produce resonates as if energized by the universe itself...”
— Ching Chang, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"When least expected, yelps, bird calls, and wraith-like ululations punched holes through lush harmonic weaves that seemed to levitate like bright white clouds..."
— Sam Prestianni, SF WEEKLY
“Even God stops to listen when KITKA—unamplified, without sets, props, instruments, or even lyrics most people can understand—opens its collective mouth. The sound is so chillingly beautiful, by anyone's standards, that the entire audience sits enraptured, most of them with eyes shut. My own eyes flooded with tears.”
— Summer Burke, THE GUARDIAN
“The singing of KITKA was tangy, excellently in tune and verbally communicative.”
— Andrew Porter, THE NEW YORKER
"When least expected, yelps, bird calls, and wraith-like ululations punched holes through lush harmonic weaves that seemed to levitate like bright white clouds. Always, multiple voices resounded as one, like Gabriel's trumpet howling from the highest mountaintop, summoning the wayward home."
— Sam Prestianni, SF WEEKLY
Various Press
"Late in the second act of Iron Shoes, Kelly Atkins, a member of the ensemble, dons a gauzy purple frock and a pink wig. Wielding a wand that’s knobbed with a small crystal ball, she breaks into song the way that Glinda the Good Witch of Oz might if she had just been released from an asylum. Atkins repeats a phrase in a foreign language that contains the word “esperanza,” translating it into English as, roughly, “Hope is a good night’s rest.” She’s the kind of fairy godmother you’d wish would visit after the ball is over when your carriage has turned back into a pumpkin. And that’s why she’s there. Her song combines the daffiest of deliveries with that verse of infinite consolation. As the spirit of controlled chaos — that is to say, the spirit of every theatrical production — Atkins’ performance lifts the mood of an already elevated production even higher..."
— Jeffrey Edalatpour, SF WEEKLY
"On a darkened stage spattered with stars, 15 courageous singers, dancers and actors taught us about the power of narrative. Kitka, America’s premiere Balkan women’s chorus, wove together three fairy tales with discordant drones, powerhouse harmonies and primal wails of sorrow to bespell a sold-out audience..."
— Adam Broner, Repeat Performances