The Cat Empire, a band that embraces multiculturalism, and turn it into a varying array of funk, jazz, rock and pop music. The six piece band hailing from Melbourne Australia, already have a large home crowd draw, though their reputation is slowly spreading across the USA, Europe and the UK.
Two Shoes is heavily laid with salsa felt rhythms, and Latin tinged chorus’s that get you up dancing, though as the album roles on, it lacks consistency.
The opening track, also being the lead single, ‘Sly’ gives us the typical Cat Empire sound. It’s a fast paced reggae tune that makes it extremely catchy and the added vocals of Felix Reibl’s bring a sexy, but almost pub like feel, making it quite home-y, while the lyrics depict the bands atmosphere so well:
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you
You look like one incredible creature
Wanna treat you fine
Lets dance and grind
Get so funk-inflicted it’s a crime
You’re divine you’re sublime
And well you blow my mind’
Speaking of vocals, the band consists of two vocalists, both having extremely different sounds and range. Felix Riebl brings the gruff, and jazz vocal to the fore in songs like, ‘Miserere’ and ‘Lullaby’ while Harry Angus (also on trumpet) has a higher pitched voice which slip into the rockier or upbeat tunes like, ‘The Car Song’ ‘Party Started’ and ‘Protons, Neutrons, Electrons.’
The Cat Empire may be able to cover many diverse sounds and genres, though
Two Shoes suffers from a lack of consistency and catchiness that may have non jazz/reggae fans bored by their efforts. The end tracks drag with no variation, or fail at trying to be different like ‘Protons, Neutrons, Electrons’ which is an almost a Broadway like tune that lacks a serious punch, even if they include the line
‘Zipadoda Zipadadee’.
Two Shoes is an album that lacks a serious punch, though gets you moving and grooving to a fair few of their tracks. You can see how they are an effect festival band, and fans of Jazz/Reggae will love their music, though for the average pop/reggae listener, they can get bored easily and lose interest quite quickly.
Recommended Tracks:
Sly
The Car Song
Lullaby
