Summer Cats
Songs for Tuesdays
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Label: Slumberland
I'm all for the return of simplicity to the indie scene. Not that I have any problems with complexity, but there really isn't anything like a rousing, straightforward pop song, hooks aplenty and vocals with just the right oomph to them and no vibrato or technique in sight. But for a simple song to work, it has to have the right chemistry, a passionate execution, some life to it or it'll just be some boring song that no one will notice let alone put on repeat. Summer Cats are sorely lacking in this department on Songs for Tuesdays, an album that could have come from any era but has the shelf life of some long forgotten mid-'90s alternative act in particular.
There isn't anything wrong with the work, per se, it's just instantly forgettable. The alternating male-female lead vocals sound like something from a DGC sampler from 1995, saccharine and cute and in one ear and out the other; the instrumentation suffers a similar fate, the chugging, jangly guitars clichéd in the worst way, the occasional organ lines unable to make the songs stick. The band makes some admirable attempts to channel some of their icons, like on "Fulton Girls" which apparently aims to be a This Year's Model-era Elvis Costello number but instead just serves to remind the listener of how good power pop can be when it's done right.
"Christopher Wren" fares better, beginning with an overdriven electro piano line, but the vocals are too samey to lead the song anywhere, lacking anything in the way of a memorable melody. The song is aimless, its structure poor, the band seemingly hoping the electric piano hook can carry the number, but sadly it can't. Summer Cats almost manage to get somewhere with "Camel Cords," but claustrophobic, thin production sinks it as a frenzied tambourine crowds the mix and the organ and drums begin to sound like they're playing to different beats.
The production on the album in general works against Summer Cats, not dirty enough to be considered lo-fi, not fleshed out enough to do the band any favors. Where the guitars should sparkle and punch, they whine; where the drums should have some snap, they whimper; where the vocals should be triumphant and full, they whisper. Odd, random sounds sabotage certain numbers, like the airplane noises and rainsticks that ruin the otherwise fine "St. Tropez." Unlike Slumberland's earlier hit from this year, the fantastic debut by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Summer Cats seem to have rushed through things and fail to embrace the studio as the potential instrument it could be. Songs for Tuesdays manages to be little more than a disappointment; fine for what it is, but you get the feeling the band could do so much better.
by Morgan Davis