This record came out 2 months ago now and I keep putting off talking about it because it is simply so bland and predictable. As with so many bands over the past 15 years, Catfish put out an incredibly exciting and enjoyable debut in 2014's The Balcony, and then followed it up with a mostly mediocre The Ride in 2016, an album that had some stellar singles but most of the deep cuts sounded like bland Oasis demos which never left the studio for a reason. While there was always hope that the band could turn it around for their third release, I wasn't surprised it turned out like it did.
And there was hope for a while, the first two singles (also the first two tracks on the record) were legitimately enjoyable indie pop rock tunes. While nothing revolutionary, Longshot aims for an anthemic feel-good vibe and actually gets there, and also ditches the oasis cover band style of the last album. Fluctuate is easily the best the record has to offer, retaining much of the energy and angst that made the first album work so well. The way the guitar and bass play off each other during the verses is some legitimately creative songwriting. But then we get to third track and single, 2all. This is when I knew how this album was going to turn out. The instrumentation is bland and uninspired, and the lyrical content is just complete anthemic nothingness. Another (admittedly petty) gripe I have with this track is that title. It seems as if the band are more committed to their aesthetic of single word titles than actually making one that doesn't look incredibly dumb on its own.
The whole album feels like this to be honest, engineered to maintain the bands aesthetic and appeal to the fans. The same cover art style, the same "The ..." title, the same one word song titles, the same awkward cut-off at the end of the last song just because it happened by accident when they recorded Tyrants for the first album. It's even more awkward here than on The Ride, because the last song, Overlap, doesn't even sound like a big finale song. It just sounds like every over song on the album, just with the end missing...
All the songs follow the same structure, opening with the first verse at a certain tempo, with a big buildup into the chorus which is either faster or slower than the verse. Then repeat for the second verse and chorus, and then finally jump into a guitar solo or a bridge and then the big anthemic final chorus. The lyrical topics are also generally the same throughout the album (as they were the last time), generic relationship struggles that are just detailed enough to remain relatable, but not intense or introspective enough to feel like there's really any stakes.
I know I've really grilled this album, but it is well performed and well made, and does an energy to it that you can bop your head to in the backround. Individual guitar lines and some of Van McCann's vocals do grab me, but they're put into songs that overall sound all the same as each other, and all the same as what the band has done before. If you're a fan of what the band has done before and is not looking for any changes, then you'll probably really enjoy this record. However, for me, I would just rather listen to their first record, or something from the myriad of bands that have sounded like this over the past 15 years.
Top Tracks: Longshot, Fluctuate
4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment