Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By The cat Empire, EMI 2010.
One of my favourite Australian bands is The Cat Empire and they have just released a new album.
I don’t have a copy yet so I’ve decided to review one of their back catalogue albums that I’ve just recently purchased.
Ever since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2003 I’ve loved the mix of jazz, ska, pop and indie rock .the band produces.
I caught one of their shows in David Bates’ Spiegeltent in the early to mid-2000s and I’ve been hooked ever since.
The band’s second album, Two Shoes (2005), was their first album to reach number one on the album charts and after their appearance at the opening ceremony of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, which brought them world-wide attention, they signed a deal with Velour Records in America.
Their third album Cities: The Cat Empire Project (2006) is probably my favourite but it’s like picking a favourite child – I feel guilty for doing so.
For some reason I missed Cinema on its release and I recently rectified this by picking up a copy at a market stall while on holiday on the south coast of NSW.
On release, the album reached No. 3 on the album chart and was released in Canada, the US, and Europe, achieving excellent international sales.
Cinema differs from the Cities album in that it’s a little less “world music” and a little more pop orientated, albeit still with a heavy dollop of jazzy horns and some sly ska rhythms.
The album opens with Waiting, a great ska track, and while the tempo changes often through the next few tracks the ska rhythm is still prevalent.
In many ways this album, among all their releases, reminds me the most of that wonderful English band Madness.
The songs are eminently danceable and contain catchy choruses while being firmly grounded in the Caribbean rhythm.
That is not to say that there isn’t variety on the album.
Tracks like, Feeling’s Gone with its sparse bass, and particularly The Heart is a Cannibal and Reasonably Fine change the rhythmic pattern before Call Me Home returns us to ska as we approach the album’s conclusion.
The Cat Empire has a huge following here in Australia and overseas and the band have been on the road for a long time.
They are brilliant live so if you get the opportunity to see them grab it. You won’t be disappointed.
