The Sewer Cats – Manchester, England, United Kingdom
The Sewer Cats and the Zelda EP is now available via Hell Hath No Fury Records and will enter any room it is played into via two-piece, double-fuzzed Garage Punk n’ Roll infused with the playful abandon of said rock and or roll and a healthy appreciation for trailblazing Hardcore Punk.
What? The review is done? You only want three lines? I do apologise but reviews and or justice given to music isn’t quite so succinct here at Ear Nutrition. Take that imaginary quarantine-boss! Now, I may be slowly edging toward insanity, but I will try and get this completed first. The Sewer Cats hail from Manchester and after a raucous demo, have unveiled their Zelda EP. An EP that is named after the band’s cat. Facts are facts.
‘Fool’ was the forerunner of this release for a reason. The track is laden with playful Garage Rock groove plied with vintage Punk vocals over eventual OG Hardcore Punk breakdowns. As satisfactory as the gritty-groove is, ‘Fool’ is made by its harder inclinations that also further the impact made by the frantic classic UK Punk vocals tributing a time where the initial voices of intensity weren’t all male.
If it didn’t already, the band’s citation of the likes of the Dead Kennedys and Bikini Kill makes all the more sense in ‘Rich Cheaters’. The band’s Garage Punk n’ Roll guitar-groove is still on top form but outside of the band’s accosting and topical lyrics, the overt, again, vintage Hardcore pace allows Cass to match her vocal ferocity to her drumbeat in a release highlight. ‘Rich Cheaters’ concerns some hateful groups of people and matches its stylistic accompaniment more than well.
‘Greta’ is named after who you think it is and is also the best on the release. Cass and Josh have held my attention with ease but the more they drift towards further Hardcore climes they become more intrinsic to themselves. ‘Greta’ boasts another Black Flag-esque verse-groove before catapulting into another furious finishing move. After intermittent playful licks teasing the impending explosion, the band double-down across the board into full-fledged Hardcore Punk.
Much of The Sewer Cats groove and sombre axe-work eludes to a little Post-Punk influence that clearly goes a long way. The band are quirky but it doesn’t simply suffice to say just that. If you sit and pin-point the quirks of Garage Rock, early-Punk, Post-Punk, and Hardcore and amalgamate them and then apply natural British odd-ness, then you’ll find The Sewer Cats to be cleverly diverse. See ‘Laurie’ and ‘Raw’ where this is further sustained via Josh’s excellent string-work.
‘Create’ opens via dirty blues juxtaposing the vocal intensity and drum-kit-ebb. True to form, ‘Create’ build its musical intensity in a slow chase toward Cass’ voice box. 0:59 is ground-zero within ‘Create’. The band maintain this blues-flirtation but it increasingly gives way to the Punk-rage. The band’s formula is tried and tested by this point on Zelda but negates all possible boredom.
‘Cat Gifs’ may not be as socio-political charged but it still charged with something. What are I hear you ask? Affectionate Cat Gifs! The Sewer Cats close their hatch and gleefully retreat to their lair after a finalising 0:44 blast.
Zelda is out now via Hell Hath No Fury Records.
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