Tag: Phenomenal Cat

The Naturals and Phenomenal Cat

powerpopaholic
The Naturals

The Naturals “We Are The Naturals”

Brothers Aaron and Keiren Jolly are The Naturals. Having “discovered” The Beatles, The Kinks and The Zombies in their teens, they have faithfully developed their craft through a 1960s rock and roll framework. It’s tough to create catchy originals, that could’ve been big hits in another era – but The Naturals make it sound so easy.

The intro “We Are The Naturals” is gleefully anachronistic, followed by the psychedelic backbeat of “I Don’t Need A Car,” laying in the Farfisa organ and guitar. There simply isn’t a bad song here, the jangling “Out of My Head” and the driving riffs of “Billy” remind me of The La’s. For sheer joyful power pop just listen to “Mary Go Round” and the awesomely stick-in-your-head-forever “Pretty Young.” The songs are brilliantly melodic with the traditional boy-meets-girl theme. Fans of retro bands like The Above or The Weeklings will not want to miss this one. Highly Recommended.

Amazon


Phenomenal Cat “Pop Wasteland”

Pop Wasteland is the soundtrack for a graphic novel by the English rock band Phenomenal Cat. The story is about a man named Albert Blood who finds himself swept along in a crusade against a dystopian society. The album’s spoken parts are narrated by British actor, Kenneth Colley (Star Wars, The Life of Brian).

The mood is an amalgam of Neill Blomkamp’s work (Elysium, District 9) with just a touch of Mr. Roboto. The opener “Albert Blood” describes the post-natural disaster scene with horns and guitar, as Albert is shuffled into his prison-like surroundings to a Mod beat. The music is inventive as “Satellites” rocks, and the scratchy demo “Sugarloaf Hill” is the water damaged cassette our hero listens to. The title track is a nostalgic look back on rock and roll, with a saxophone lead. The production is impressive, standout tracks include; “Welcome To Suburbia,” the glam rocker “Fade In/Fade Out,” and “The Dead Seekers,” which brings to mind The Dandy Warhols. Overall the gloomy thematic approach lacks variety, but the good news is this is a “name your price” download and with a $3 graphic novel it’s a bargain.

Amazon (graphic novel) | Bandcamp

A Leaf and Phenomenal Cat

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A Leaf “A Leaf”
This psychedelic Seattle band does a great job of weaving melody and sonic texture togther. “Wherever We Go” starts with hushed subtle vocals and light guitar plucks that builds into a majestic trip with handclaps and backwards guitar riffs.  The dreamy vocal harmonies of “Into The Light Undreamed” are joined by a lush orchestral chorus. I haven’t heard better pysche-pop since Olivia Tremor Control or The Mother Hips.

The absorbing and ethereal “Spheres” grabs you with a violin sweep and a “Byrd In The Morning” is a slow sleepy lullaby that is perfect for relaxation. Credit goes to guitarist/vocalist trio of Chris Bridges, Nate Daley and Shannon Donahue, with Andy Wamben on bass and Steven Demuth on drums. However after the albums mid point, the tracks stay a bit too mellow even for me. Other than the mid-tempo “Everything,” it actually has a nearly 6 minute song called “I Don’t Know Why I’m So Tired.” Still, a masterful attempt and a mind expanding trip with folky overtones that’s definitely worth taking.

Phenomenal Cat “Postcards from the British Empire”
This band released a single a month last year, so our pals at Futureman Records have compiled it all together into a single album download for us. I still love the harmonies on “Letters Home From Nazi-Occupied France” and  Move-like “Electricity & Volts.” And its “name-your-price” so you won’t break the bank either. FYI – the label is slowly amassing a big collection of previously out-of-print power pop classics that you need to add to your music collection. I will be reviewing them as part of a “Classics” section on power pop (stay tuned).