The Cat Empire - So Many Nights (2008)

Those Australian mates known as The Cat Empire are a hard bunch to categorize because there is nothing traditional about their rock n' roll. The band's best known CD, Two Shoes, did not have a single guitar lick on the entire sixty minute disc. A solo trumpet is one of their featured lead instruments, and on their latest CD, So Many Nights, they may be the only band featuring a turntable accompanied by a string section. They also are lucky to have keyboardist Oliver McGill who is possibly the best unknown jazz-rock pianist in the business. Every solo he plays is absolutely amazing.

So Many Nights is a party disc that is just as much fun as the sextet's earlier work. It's also a little more traditional in both its songwriting and arranging without sacrificing any originality or quality. There are even a couple of tunes that someone may want to classify as ballads. The band offers us a taste from a full buffet of musical genres, including pop, rock, funk, jazz, reggae, ska, even some light hip-hop, frequently jumping styles in the same song.

So Many Nights does have a little acoustic and rhythm guitar added for flavor but the most important and influential rock instrument of all time is still never featured as a lead instrument. The Empire Horns, the band's unofficial part time horn section, are joined this time around by the just as unofficial Empire Strings. The point of all of this detail is that from track to track you will never know what musical surprise is coming your way next, and despite what may sound like a messy hodge-podge of songs, the band still manages to provide the listener with a unique sound that is totally identifiable as The Cat Empire.

Primary lead singer Felix Reibl's compositions are superior to those of alternate lead singer and trumpeter Harry James Angus. He is a better vocalist too. Reibl's title track is getting some deserved radio airplay. At fifteen songs the CD is a little too long, but overall, So Many Nights is another fine effort by a unique band that deserves the success that is coming their way.

Comments

  1. Paul Rhodes3:50 PM, July 22, 2008

    great choice, they really come into their own LIVE, saw them at East Coast Bluesfest in Byron Bay Australia a few years ago and it's a pretty astounding act; The Wailers, Solomon Burke, Bo Diddeley were all their but i had the most fun with Cat Empire

    Paul
    rockrevivaltripleh.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more