A Cat Fighting a Dog in the Same Body? Cue the Aggressive, Violent Theme Music
With a name inspired by violence, using the logic that if a cat and a dog were joined in one body the animal would be a violent beast caused by their opposite worlds colliding, you would imagine these Brighton rockers to be loud and aggressive. Well, you would be spot on. The band say themselves that "all we knew at first was we wanted to sound loud, really loud". Objective achieved then.
'I'm a Romantic' and 'Devil in Me' form a double a-side taken from the quartets forthcoming debut album due for release later this year. Opener 'I'm a Romantic' is a raucous affair, with aggressive distorted guitars and thumping bass leading the charge. The vocals have an eerie similarity to that of Puddle of Mudd (remember them?), with an almost snarling after touch to them. However it's the guitars that take the limelight here, with chiming dissonant lead lines and feedback whistling throughout creating a sense of chaos. Short, snappy and to the point, this track is over in a flash.
'Devil in Me' is less abrasive than its predecessor, but nonetheless opens with a recurring theme of chaos. However, with a chorus that seems somewhat disjointed and a general feeling of repetitiveness, it doesn't have the same appeal as 'I'm a Romantic', and could be considered it's poorer cousin.
Cat the Dog certainly achieve their desire to sound "loud, really loud", and there's something about 'I'm a Romantic' that really digs its nails into you. More like this please, and the album could be an interesting, ii somewhat dangerous, listen indeed.