Cats On Fire - Our Temperance Movement

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Press release
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4...according to our Business Lady on Thu 14 May, 2009.

Cats on Fire are from Finland and their press release makes a big deal about them not being a metal band which becomes pretty obvious when 'Our Temperance Movement' begins playing on the office sound system. It sounds like singer/songwriter 'Mattias Bjorkas' has spent the majority of his life listening to British and American indie pop of the late eighties/early nineties and now wants to forge a career from aping these styles. Cats in Paris certainly do a good job of sounding like a mix of early Smiths and R.E.M combined but for this reason it lacks the originality and invention, saying that Cats on Fire know how to craft a proper indie pop gem and the vocals are strangely endearing for a Finnish dude doing his best Morrissey impression. You can hear the ambition throughout 'Our Temperence Movement'. Matthias's lyrics pack enough wit and poetic charm to keep the listener interested and the musical accompaniment is competently played without ever being overwhelming. Not ground breaking by any stretch but still pretty decent.

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Jangling indiepop tussling with rip-roaring rock’n’roll, ornate REM-esque melodies squaring up to exuberant dancefloor smashes. “COF hit a high mark few other earnest young men can get near.” Q. Imagine growing up in Finland anything other than a hard rock fan. From the glammed up rock of Hanoi Rocks to the globe-conquering metal of HIM and The Rasmus, Finland’s contribution to music has tended to be loud, brash and rocking. It’s safe to say that Cats On Fire singer Mattias Bjorkas isn’t a heavy metal fan. Just look at him: with cheekbones you could hang a Rembrandt on and a perfect, almost arrogantly-styled quiff, this cravat-wearing hybrid of the young David Bowie and James Dean seems a world apart from scuffed denim and greasy hair. And his band’s music inhabits a different universe as well – jangling indie pop tussling with rip-roaring rock’n’roll, ornate REM-esque melodies squaring up to exuberant indie dancefloor smashes. The foursome released their debut album, “The Province Complains”, in 2007, to widespread acclaim. “Brilliant,” declared NME. “'I Am The White-Mantled King' is Robert Smith if he'd trade Edgar Allan Poe for Brideshead Revisited, while 'Astray' is Adam Ant running at midnight on Dexedrine with Dexys, and that's just the first two tracks. An indie-pop hallelujah”. Q and Word magazine were equally as enthusiastic. “Our Temperance Movement” is the band’s first domestic release in the UK. Kicking off with the infectious, hand-clapping, energy rush of the single “Tears In Your Cup”, the album showcases Mattias’ singular style and worldview – he’s sardonic, poetic, funny, political, eccentric, and a true star in the old-fashioned sense, a flamboyant misfit to rank alongside Edwyn Collins and John Lydon. You can’t imagine how he grew up in Finland. And we can’t wait to see what happens now he’s finally turned his attention to the UK.

Tracklisting: 1. Tears in Your Cup, 2. Garden Lights, 3. Letters From a Voyage to Sweden, 4. Never Sell the House, 5. The Steady Pace, 6. Lay Down Your Arms, 7. Fabric, 8. Horoscope, 9. The Borders of This Land, 10. Our Days in the Sun.

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