Sometimes, you hear a song and you think to yourself, “Oh, self. That song’s pretty good.” Then you never think of it again. That’s what that the recurrently-named Cats and Cats and Cats have produced with their debut LP, If I’d Had an Atlas. The band is skilled way beyond ‘technically proficient’, yet that’s the only description that comes to mind without serious digging (This review sponsored by Thesaurus.com).
Take, for example, the first track, ‘If I’d Had Antlers’: it begins with a choral before launching into a suddenly rawer style, with angry strikes of cello and lyrics that are spat out on a wave of emotion. It’s strident without being shrill, and the lyrics are amazing, if unmemorable. It sets the theme here, which seems to be loneliness. Each song has some element of longing and isolation, and it’s very skilfully done, the sense of melancholy whimsy drawing the listener in.
They make a strange detour with ‘Suizokukan Ni’,near the album’s end. As the name might suggest, it’s sung entirely in Japanese. It’s slightly surreal, hearing those words with that accent, but the lyrics are well-arranged, and the aggressive drums create a rather catchy tune. It works surprisingly well, and this is pretty much the only song that I found myself drawn back to.
The title track, ‘If I’d Had an Atlas’, meanwhile, is simply gorgeous. It’s angry, lost, hopeful, and amazingly well-constructed, swinging from angular indie rock to a more melodic tone and creating a rare emotional rollercoaster. The vocals are raucous and rough and just where they need to be, managing to pack in a lot of emotion without becoming a parody of itself.
Atlas is a superb album, but it doesn’t have any staying power. It’s hard to muster up a strong opinion on it, which is slightly disconcerting, given how much heart and energy Cats have clearly put into it. Despite the obvious talent, you don’t find yourself liking this album or thinking about it once you’ve stopped listening. This is the band’s fourth record in five years, and their first LP, and the practice shows. I just can’t find myself getting behind it.
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Margret Crist is Stereokill's US correspondent, based in San Francisco. Email her at 
