The Son Cats "O'Dell/1971" seven inch raked in some solid press in 2011!Word from our friends at Terrascope Rumbles is that "the A-side [is] a noisy guitar/psych romp sounding like the Strawberry Alarm Clock if they had ditched their keyboard player and turned everything up... with some mean guitar and weird Bolan-esque lyrics, fine stuff indeed and well worth a listen."
Son Cats also made Dying for Bad Music's end of the year Psych-Garage-Punk-Post-Country-Surf "Apes in Space" mix/podcast. So glad we bludgeoned all of those stellar categories in one fell swoop, and so proud to be among such fine company. This mix is one to remember, featuring tracks by awesome bands like Thee Oh Sees and Twerps.
On the other side of the lily pad, the fine chaps at the helm of Mad Mackerel in London swore that Son Cats got "prime slabs of 60s tinged, sleazy rock’n'roll voodoo designed to make the sweat run down the walls and the neighbours bang on the floor in despair." (My friends, that's why the Cats were born in a shed at the edge of a former WWII detainment camp in Montana. This band really is that loud.)
The "O'Dell/1971" 7" also drew in some attention from Spain, muchos gracias to the folks at Monasterio de Cultura, and from France, merci to the wonderful people at My Car is Full of Plums. I think the last line in French roughly translates as: "beautiful mouths to decorate the whole?" Cat breath! ("Tous les ingrédients de la réussite sont là : l'énergie du rock n' roll, la fougue du folk-blues psychédélique, la fièvre des années 60/70, et de belles gueules pour agrémenter le tout!")
Back in New York, the fine folks at Music Vagabond weighed in, saying, "When I first heard this split I wrote to the band and said it felt like 1970’s rock had come back and smacked me in the face. It’s a good smack, but it’s hard and you damn well whats hits you... Listening to these tracks is like jumping in a rock and roll time machine. Throw on some headphones and get ready to be beamed back to 1971. " Wowza. Bam!
Thanks an extra bucketful to Blah Blah Blah Science (who proudly gave us an 8.2 (out of 8.2, we presume)) and to Ashbees Fragments for giving our video for "O'Dell" an ample amount of play. BBBS said: "This video for “O'Dell” is totally challenging our current video of the year. If you love anything about garage we dare you to resist this song." Thanks a million. And thanks, also, to science.
To end on a high note (so high, it's only reachable by Mariah Carey,) the Cats received a warm welcome from Die Pop: "These cats (no pun intended) put out thick rock and roll waves that drown your brain in a hazy maple flavored smoke. The two tracks on this 7'', O'Dell and 1971, are packed with truck loads of pure energy. Without any post-production sort of static-magic, these two fill up a lot of dead air with primitive skin-pounds, wailing guitar riffs, and genuine vocals. Combining folk, 60s psychedelic garage, and pure rock and roll - SON CATS piss excellence."
And of course, we can't forget the epic Son Cats interview over at Sean Carnage.com. EPIC. And as if that alone weren't enough, the brains and ears behind the 7inches blog gave the record such a thorough listening that it isn't even worth quoting or paraphrasing here. Just go read it.
