Cat Cat – 'Uralba'

Cat Cat – ‘Keys And Locks Don’t Work’

(mp3)

Like the regional NSW town it’s named after, this release isn’t overambitious. However, it does manage to capture a nice expanse of sound without trying to sound like a Steve Kilby tribute. All this shoegazey/pop stuff can wind up like a stale story, but luckily Cat Cat have thrown in enough tweaks and variations here to keep your interest. Those variations are probably sandwiching more sluggish tracks (‘Hate Me, ‘Romance’) between the goods, but there are enough great tracks to make this memorable anyway. ‘Keys and Locks Won’t Work’ is one of the few songs to get away with using the word ‘phantasmagoric’ in it’s opening line without sounding like a soggy Art Vs Science lyric. ‘Ourselves’ surely nods in the way of Panel of Judges’ back catalogue, while those bright, climbing treble guitars which wind their way around tracks like ‘Water Goes’ and ‘Pavement’ are perfect examples of what these guys do best. Mechanical drum lines and droney chord lines become predictable sedatives for closing songs, but closing track Uralba takes me to a good place. That place is somewhere between putting on a late night driving record and being hypnotised asleep at the wheel, but definitely in best interests of course.

Cat Cat play Grumpy’s Green in Fitzroy on Feb 19th.

Uralba is out through Dream Damage.

catcat.bandcamp.com