Music review: Cats On Fire - The Province Complains
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MyVillage
Music review: Cats On Fire - The Province Complains
Release Date: Out now
Format: Album
Genre: Indie
Our Rating: 3/5
Finnish fops Cats On Fire may come from a land where it's winter for seven months of the year, but they've obviously been keeping themselves warm with the sounds of Pulp, Belle and Sebastian and Morrisey… if their debut album is anything to go by.
Lead singer Mattias Björkas is like a Medium and "The Province Complains" is one big séance of still-living 80s nerd-crooners. On "Higher Grounds" he channels the soul of Jarvis Cocker and on many tracks, especially the opener "I Am The White-Mantled King" and "Born Again Christian" Mr Steven Morrisey comes through loud and clear.
"Ashtray" sounds like a sitcom theme written by Adam Ant. There's also an after taste of Gypsy-skiffle a la Dexy's Midnight Runners throughout this album along with a sense of joyous quirky geekdom. The liner notes feature a dissertation on Coffee and Chicory for a reason only known to the band themselves. But after all Finland is known for its eccentricities and these cravat wearing dandies are no exception.
Review by Stuart Ferrol, MyVillage
Press Release:
“The aim of art is simply to create a mood,” so said Oscar Wilde.
Cats On Fire are four young men who wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. So, welcome to The Province Complains, the band’s debut UK release. Packed with mind-altering melodies, spring-to-your-step rhythms and grin-inducing lyrics, this is an album to truly fall in love with.
Inspired by the British greats of indie-pop like The Smiths, Belle And Sebastian, Pulp and Felt it’s a wonder that Cats On Fire are from Turku/Abo in Finland. However, from Scandinavia they come, armed with songs full of the kind of melancholy that have that strange knack of pumping you full of triumphant glory. From their upbeat, bouncier numbers right down to the introspective, slower moments, Cats On Fire display an unnerving skill for memorable tunes and wonderfully expressive lyrics.
If you want to dance, go straight to Higher Grounds or Born Again Christian, both tunes that make your backside wiggle and your head shake instantaneously. If you want to coo sensitively to the sounds of something a little more tender, sidle up to the sweetness of Chain Of Saints or If You Must Tell Him. And if you simply want to sing out at the top of your voice, check out opener, I Am The White-Mantled King, with its wilfully melancholy lyric and typically elegant delivery. In fact, so quietly confident are Cats On Fire of their place as your new favourite band that vocalist Mattias even predicts “there will be people in line praising what I’ve done”. Come join the queue.
www.catsonfire.net
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