It's good but I hate it
Please don't be Ska, please don't be Ska, please don't be Ska. I hang a wreath of garlic around my neck, cross every bodily part that it's possible to invert, liberally sprinkle myself with holy water (thought I'd better cover all the bases) and cringe as I tentatively reach for the play button.
The Fat Cats started out life as the cricket-loving, rockabilly-toting Inswingers; changing their name to it's current incarnation after the addition of a new "Psycho-Rock" guitarist. The band say that jamming with local Indie, Punk and Hardcore bands has helped widen their influences and purge all but the most basic rockabilly elements from their sound – a classification that basically encompasses a spinning double bass and 'slick quiffs'.
You can certainly hear the wide range of influences in play here – the sheer variety (on a theme of course) is astounding. Opener 'I'm so Sad' shows that the rockabilly hasn't been completely expunged from their systems, finishing with a Madness-esque stomp that leads into the highway-at-night rock of 'Bored To Death'. 'All This Time' is the most overtly Ska track here, and much to my delight the vocalist sounds scarily like Daniel 'I Made This In My Bedroom' Beddingfield – Ska and the big DB? Oh joy upon joy. Still, we're not done yet. There is the excellent jazz-mantra of 'This Town', the ska-blues lullaby of 'The Road Ahead' and the bizarre ska-metal (and that's a first one on me) of 'You Won't Remember'; surely the most unlikely partnership since Peter Stringfellow and whatever nubile young scamp he currently has hanging off his (every word? something more sinister?) arm. By far and away the best song is the swinging 'Waiting For A Call', mostly because it sounds like that "It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing, doo-wap doo-wap doo-wap doo-waaaap" song. Very cool. The less said about the country & western hidden track the better – in fact seeing as it's hidden I'd recommend simply not looking.
The slightly underwhelming production doesn't help matters, with some sections sounding hollow and watered down. Beefing the sound up would add some much needed depth and gusto, and better show off the richness that their full compliment of instruments brings.
Through the thick mist of my brass-induced hatred I recognise that this is actually rather good, IF YOU LIKE THAT KIND OF THING, but I shall be disposing of my copy in the only way suitable for something so heinous – it's my brother’s birthday on Friday... Those of you for whom Ska doesn't equate to a rash and a nosebleed should definitely give this a try, and if you still need convincing, it's being released on Snuff's 10 Past 10 label – so it's home-grown British produce. So go ahead and buy it, and keep the farmers happy.