 12/01/2009 NUTS AND BOLTS: Ben Summers - drums, Sara Beard - synths / vocals, Lorien Edwards – bass, Michael Watson – synths / vocals
STOMPING GROUND: Manchester, UK, formed 2006
SET TO SOUNDTRACK: Planets colliding
DESTINED TO UPSET: Anyone still clinging to the Madchester dream
YOU’RE IN BUSINESS IF YOU LIKE: Los Campesinos!, Broken Social Scene, Munch Munch, Fuck Buttons, Blonde Redhead
We should be grateful to Cats In Paris, because they scoff at the archaic tradition of every band from Manchester sounding like The Stone Roses, The Smiths or Joy Division. Their fresh, jagged art pop is a desperately needed addition to a city which has been living off its musical heritage and producing vile, offensively middle-of-the-road pap like Starsailor for far too long.
The four-piece burst forth from the musical capital of the north with off-the-wall hooks, layers of dissonant guitars, fuzzy synths, waltzing violins and plinky-plonk keys. Every now and again they even lean towards Jean Michel Jarre, but in a good way, honest. The epic tour-de-forces they unleash threaten to overload the speakers, only to fall away from crescendos onto delicate moments of lo-fi twinkling. Imagine if Los Campesinos! weren’t scared of their own shadows, or if Blond Redhead weren’t so fucking miserable these days, and you have a rough idea of Cats In Paris’ spiky, irreverent anti-pop.
DEBUT ALBUM ‘COURTCASE 2000’ IS OUT NOW (Aa RECORDINGS)
|
