Friday 22 January 2010

Katapult – Wednesday Club (Odd Box Records)

Some words about Wednesday Club: joyful, absurd, spirit raising on a gloomy day, abundantly melodic, super eclectic. ‘Katapult’, the product of three different songwriters, is 57 varieties of pick ‘n’ mix musical fun, slipping and sliding all over the pop shop for your delectation and delight. Fifteen songs in half an hour that offer variously: a soupcon of Jonathan Richman here, a dash of The McTells there, the vague ghosts of a whole hotch-potch of alty/indiepop stuff from 1986/1996/2006/whenever floating in and out of your ears and the odd psych-y twist.

Wednesday Club are apparently three fifths of The Medusa Snare (with about nought percent of the MS sound) and sing couplets like: “You like Belle And Sebastian / Your sister is a thespian” (‘Marks And Lines’) whilst delivering a variety-pack of pop straight to the breakfast bowl of your heart.

Guitars jangle and pianos plink, drums rattle and ‘Steven’s House’ is a sweet singalong pop smash! ‘Wave At Planes’ is all lilting and wistful. The opening of ‘European Veins’ is not dissimilar to The Darling Buds’ ‘Spin’ and then it continues in a splendidly fuzzy, rattley and yes, JAMC kind of way (maybe 'cos of those Manhattan Love Suicide connections?) Woo! ‘Huevos’ starts off a bit Barretty then has a personality change and comes over all aggressive and shouty. Flip!

‘De Lomelanicon’ has the exact correct measurements of sway-along melancholy and longing and contrasts perfectly with album closer, the fuzzy, fizzy, cuckoo clockwork of ‘Citalogasm’ which will have you singing along oh so sweetly with the choir, “Fuck the world. Fuck the whole wide world”. Beautiful.

And can I just point out the song title ‘Schrodinger’s Catflap’. Nice work.

oddboxrecords.com