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4/5
In classic rockumentary "This is
Spinal Tap", the group's drummer reveals that his motto in life is: "Have
a good time all the time".
Turn those wise words into bricks and mortar and you end up recreating Amsterdam, Europe's most liberal, up-for-it city. Tonight, our pursuit for pleasure sees us eschewing the delights of the city's fabled red-light district and hash-scented coffee houses in favour of an evening in the company of Chicago's smartest new(ish) band: Catherine. And boy, are we tickled pink.
In vocalist/guitarist Mark Rew, Catherine
have a frontman who combines the sensuality of Brian Molko with the presence
of Billy Corgan. In guitarist Fever, they have a hilariously entertaining,
prancing-in-front-of-the-bedroom-mirror
rock fantasy made flesh. And in their current album, 'Hot Saki and
Bedtime Stories', they have a batch of glorious tunes which dress up classic
'70s rock tunes in spangly '90s clothing. How could we not love them?
The party opens with the saucy glam
romp 'Don't Touch Me There' and slides into the slowed-down Redd Cross-esque
'It's Gonna Get Worse', Rew threatening that we'd all "better have fun".
'Cotton Candy High' is a glam stomper, Fever complementing drummer Kerry
Brown's Glitter Band
pounding with the most ludicrous
stage leaps this side of the Tap's Nigel Tufnell. 'Four Leaf Clover',
on 'Hot Saki...' a duet between Pumpkins bassist D'Arcy and Rew, is rendered
by the singer as a
star-kissed sigh of longing, while
the chiming 'Pink Floyd Poster' shows that Catherine are every bit as adept
at weaving dreamy pychedelia as Corgan's crew. Sweet.
Catherine are a delicious, candy-coloured explosion. Let them light your fuse.
MOST ROCKING MOMENT:
Guitarist Fever's hilarious onstage
tomfoolery.
LEAST ROCKING MOMENT:
A slightly too chilled crowd.
BEST ONSTAGE QUOTE:
"This if for Paul, the kind of man
I'd like if I liked men!" -vocalist
Mark Rew's birthday dedication to
yours truly.
VERDICT:
Hot rocking and night time glories.