ah...
"Take a gander at that album cover
(click on it if you want the experience writ large): primary-hued
crayola markers, cut-outs of birds from nature magazines, flowers and
hearts, in short a veritable explosion of riotous technicolor happy
times, devoid of pretension or angst, essentially screaming that the
world is a place full of sunshine and puppy dogs. It’s a nice visual
accompaniment to the debut full-length from Australian quintet Summer
Cats. (When this one popped into our inbox, I was hoping that the name
was a Wilco-esque play on words, as in “Summer cats, some are dogs,”
but this does not appear to be the case. I think it’s reference to,
you know, cats in summer.) While the cover offers the graphic
embodiment of the band’s modus operandi, a lyric from the bouncy,
jangly beach-pop track “St. Tropez,” offers the linguistic equivalent:
“I could be anywhere, anywhere but here…I could be holding your hand
all night as we go dancing in LA/Walking into a bar and order you a
tonic and Tangueray/hanging out with Rico, while making out with
Nico.” Take those two things together, an explosion of bright colors
and an endless summer-esque wanderlust and you’ve got Songs for Tuesdays in
a nutshell. These are songs for rolled-down windows and tube tops,
infused with a hooky pop-sensibility, an ear for sing-along-ability
and, overall, a refreshing joie de vivre. (Is it douchey to use French
phrases in reviews? I can never remember.)
The opening track, “Let’s Go,” sets the
tone for much of the record, with an anthemic plea to go someplace on a
jet plane accompanied by by background “na-na-na-na”s, a sneaky, oily,
nostalgic keyboard line, big broad stroke guitars and bouncy
percussion, complete with a periodic tambourine sound. The next twelve
tracks proceed in much the same vein, tapping a sunny California 60s
vibe while providing a fine enough layer of grit and crunch to satisfy
the modern ear. There are also familiar tropes that are given a new
twist, always a nice trick. The track “Fulton Girls” obviously owes a
debt to “California Girls,” but is absolutely hilarious (far more so
than the latter). “Fell in love with a Fulton girl/it’s not hard to
do/they’re a lot taller and better looking than you” repeated a few
times over a killer guitar riff and keyboard line left me both holding
my sides and tapping my feet. It pokes fun at the notion of
geographically-motivated desire, while maintaining its catchiness.
(I’m pretty sure that David Lee Roth tried to make the same joke that
Summer Cats are making here, but I could be wrong.) “Maybe Pile,”
easily my favorite tune on the record, recalls, briefly and
tangentially, British mope rock, but while pumping it full of
mood-altering drugs. The decidedly downbeat delivery of the chorus,
“If you’re not ready to see another guy, but your heart might mend in
awhile, put me on the maybe pile” is immediately ameliorated by a
sparkling, multiple part harmonic counterpoint. Imagine “Jumping
Someone Else’s Train” crossed with the chorus from “Everyday I Write
the Book” and you’re in the ballpark, maybe.
These tunes are all little explosions
of gleeful sound, pumping through the speakers with little delay and
then shuffling off the stage. There’s only a single track here that
clocks in at more than three minutes and all of the tunes have a
hummingbird-like immediacy, blasting the relevant ideas into your ears
and then moving on. I’m not imagining that in their previous work (a
few 7″ singles and some EPs) there’s a twelve-minute suite lurking.
While we’ve spent a ton of time on the lyrical content (frequently
clever, consistently entertaining), the instrumental sound that the
band crafts is captivating. These two and a half minute nuggets of
poppy goodness are a delight to behold.
This one is going to be worth snagging
purely for the brilliance that is “St. Tropez.” (I’m on record as not
being able to listen to tunes while I write, but I’ve stood up from the
computer several times during the drafting of this review to listen to
that one again. I gave you a snippet of lyrics above. The rest are
just as delightful and it’s the kind of tune that you’re glad
is stuck in your head. If you don’t listen to this track on the 14th
when this album hits the shelves, I’m going to be pissed.) Past that
track, this album is packed with tunes that are perfect for the warmer
months. In fact, it’s been a decidedly un-summerlike week in
Cleveland, with overcast skies and periods of intense rain. (In other
news, I got a wart removed, so it’s been a gloomy week both in terms of
the climate and my own interaction with the world.) The sounds of Songs for Tuesdays have made it feel like the sun is shining throughout. Good times."
"In a couple of weeks, Australia’s Summer Cats will be releasing their debut full-length, Songs for Tuesdays, on Slumberland Records.
“Hey You” is our first peek at the record–a driving indie-pop tune
anchored by some seriously distorted guitars and Scott Stevens’
no-nonsense vocals. The strategy employed by Summer Cats is similarly
frill-free: the song structure doesn’t try to offer up any surprises,
the instrumentation is that of your traditional rock band, and even the
track length scrapes by at just over two and a half minutes.
That said, just as originality alone isn’t enough to elevate a song
into grandeur, neither does its deficiency preclude it from being
catchy. Indeed, catchiness is Summer Cats’ M.O., and “Hey You” is a
shining example of that instantly gratifying type of music: the summer
song. “Hey You” is infectious at the most basic, nervous system level,
designed to induce unconscious fits of head bobbing. Beyond the more
obvious indie-pop touchstones it invokes, it also claims the sloppy
college radio sound of the early ’90s in its lineage; fans of pre-Navy Blues era Sloan should likewise dig it.
“Hey You” may not be enough to write home about, but as the summer
months continue to heat up, you’ll be glad to have Summer Cats on your
iPod."
"Summer Cats' debut LP, Songs For Tuesdays, will finally be out on Slumberland Recordscan play tennis til the
sun goes down. "Hey You, It's Me (Oh My)" is just another perfect
summer pop song from a band with a million of them."
come July 14th! – just two weeks away! Before hearing even a note of
the record I'd decided it would probably be one of my favorite records
of the year, and now, since hearing the new song "Hey You, It's Me (Oh
My)" I'm almost sure of it! Not only will it be full of fantastic fuzzy
pop songs, but it's sporting some of the most brilliantly colorful
cover art I've ever laid eyes on. Sure wouldn't expect a song like this
to lie inside that cover would you?! We