The Multiple Cat, The Secret of the Secret of the Multiple Cat
During
the mid- to late '90s, Pat Stolley's band The Multiple Cat
released four albums, a multitude of singles, and a remix album. The
Secret of the Secret of the Multiple Cat is a retrospective that
makes use of songs from that period.
Retrospectives are made to show what made a band important. Yet often what made a band important was having those songs appear on a particular album at a particular time. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" wasn't an important song simply because it was great, but because it appeared on the bestselling A Night at the Opera.
In the case of The Multiple Cat, many songs actually benefit from the change in setting. It gives listeners a chance to reconsider something possibly overlooked the first time around.Take, for instance, "Contact" and "I Like a Bridge," which were originally released on Universe Shall Mean the Self. Universe ran 25 minutes and was over before it could be soaked up. One of the drawbacks to The Multiple Cat records is that they were often too short. At a full 60 minutes, The Secret gives fans the opportunity to absorb The Multiple Cat in a more traditional full-length setting - an approach Stolley should employ in the future.
The Secret shows why The Multiple Cat were an important part of the Quad Cities music scene. In addition to the music, a comprehensive essay by band member Gary Heitman, insight into each song written by Pat Stolley, and a rare Multiple Cat video for "North?" are included.
Grogshow, Grogshow
Originally
recorded in 1995 using a single guitar and set of drums, Grogshow
recalls the indie standards of its time. That same year
saw the release of Beck's One Foot in
the Grave, Pavement's Wowee
Zowee, and The Sea & Cake's Nassau.
In July 2005, Pat Stolley began work on plans to remix the Grogshow material, now nearly 10 years old. Made up of Jason Williams on drums and Mark Kisting on guitar and vocals, the band came to a sudden end in 1996 when Kisting, who had leukemia, passed away.
Grogshow is filled with great listens, but a couple songs stand out. "Coal to Cola" bops right along over a simple guitar hook, while Kisting's voice carries a sense of melancholy making for an interesting contrast of tones. "Lapsing with Drainpipe" makes use of vocal overdubs, which move in and out of sync to shift between tension and balance as the guitar bends, as if to break into a solo at any moment, only to fade quietly into the background.
Chrash, Audio Feng Shui
Chrash's
sophomore effort is titled Audio Feng
Shui. Chris Bernat, former member of the now-retired
Tripmaster Monkey and lead vocalist and guitarist for Chrash, said
the meaning behind the title came from an idea he had about how each
sound has a particular place in the end result of a record.
Audio Feng Shui meets this standard with varying degrees of success. On "The New Immigrant Song" an over-emphasis on straight rhyme lessens the anger this song, a rally against immigration double standards, should have. "I will be working for minimum wage / This will be better than going back in my cage" is too clean and clear a use of language, when what are needed are coarser words and less-precise rhymes in step with more natural speech.
However, Bernat's clear and bright vocals and use of straight rhyme are put to much better use on the album's standout track, "All Roads": "All roads lead to one place / In the distance I can see a future race." The lyrics bounce along fluidly with help from bassist Kim Murray. The same long "A" rhyme is used throughout the song but doesn't become tired or tried. Instead, it's the glue that holds things together, making the tune stick even after it has ended.
Track a Tiger, Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Track
a Tiger have received emphatic praise on the Internet this year. As
lead singer and songwriter Jim Vallet remarked, keyboardist/vocalist
Alisa Jo Monnier has been dubbed "The Heat" by bloggers - a
comment on her voice as well as her looks.
It's the interplay between male and female vocals on Track a Tiger's debut release for Future Appletree, Woke Up Early the Day I Died, that is the key ingredient to the band's sound. What began in 2003 as a solo project for Vallet has benefited from his decision to include a full backing band. Evidence of this can be seen on the standout track "Sound as Ever."
"Sound as Ever" builds from a bare-bones acoustic-guitar number into a fleshed out slowcore anthem perfect for driving along on a rainy night. The drums are patient, but persistent, mimicking the sound of tires bumping along the highway. Vallet's smooth vocals are matched by Kristina Castañeda's bright harmonies right up to the moment a cello breaks through the background to send the song speeding off into the horizon.
Culley Smith runs a local music Web site at (http://www.theairstrange.com).
