There’s always been something rather ‘other worldly’ about the music of Cats in Space and both ‘Too Many Gods’ (2015) and ‘Scarecrow’ (2017) showed us a band that wasn’t afraid to channel the sounds of 70’s Rock without calling to play round the houses of either Zeppelin or Sabbath, instead dropping in round the ”no less interesting yet less lofty” dwellings of Supertramp, ELO, The Moody Blues and co. Here on ‘Daytrip to Narnia’ we get a two-for-one of sorts with the first seven songs seemingly set to explore that magical snow-encrusted land and the following six telling ‘The story of Johnny Rocket’ which the promo material describes as a ‘Space travelling masterpiece.’ Jeez why can’t these guys just sing about wine women and song like everyone else!
‘Narnia’ that fittingly opens up the ‘Daytrip’ has a wanton swing and anachronistic beat that hasn’t been heard since the days of The Move and ELO and fittingly flies the Pomp Rock flag to bestow upon us the best possible of openings. ‘She talks too Much’ that follows it has the bluster of early Queen had they collided with vintage Styx it’s a heady mix of sounds that meld rock with more orchestrated moments and whist the Brian May-like guitar stabs will have you gasping it’s just a tad on the Prog side of the Cats in Space songbook, not, as they say, that there’s anything wrong with that…
‘Hologram Man’ (the first single) is pure Pop Rock and celebrates the good old days for musicians and fans alike when things were far simpler; while ‘Tragic Alter Ego’ takes us on a piano-led ride through the sounds of the 70’s via Queen-like stabs and harmonies. We return to slick warm Pop for another look back in time on ‘Silver and Gold’ and fresh acoustic guitars litter the lead into the gently downcast and rueful ‘Chasing Diamonds’ and just when you’re settling into another fine release Act one closes with sure-footed retro Pop sounds of the majestic ‘Unicorn.’ Now after all that I don’t know about you but I’m still hungry?
It’s at this point we say goodbye to Narnia and hello to ‘Johnny Rocket’ which opens up with the orchestral 39 second rumble of ‘Space Overture’ before the vintage Angel-like build and ELO body of ‘Johnny Rocket’, it’s impressive stuff and rocks along nicely up against the guitar-threaded disco beat of ‘Thunder In The Night’ (not to everyone’s tastes I’m sure) and the cascading melodies and swing of ‘One Small Step.’
‘Twilight’ mellows proceedings and sports some wonderful strings as we’re propelled towards he end of Johnny’s story, whilst the languid ballad ‘Yesterday’s News’ has an even lighter touch and explores the temporary nature of it all. We’re left with ‘Destination Unknown’ – a nice strummed Pop Rocker that has a timeless aspect to it, it’s a perfectly nice song but like it’s two predecessors lacks the twist and quirkiness I had expected shot through these final three tracks. In an album of two halves I much prefer the first.
I ended my last review (of Scarecrow) with the line “Set everything to 11 and set a course for the heart of the sun…”I think they just did that… Cats in Space had already pushed their creative ‘boat’ out a fair way from shore, now they’ve launched it even further into the unknown. If I’m honest after loving their first two outings thoroughly, I’m less comfortable with this. Sure it has its moments of equal brilliance but even after a week of listening the second ‘side’ or ‘half’ or whatever we might call it, still hadn’t claimed me. I can’t recommend the ‘Narnia’ tracks enough but I hope that ‘Johnny’ is a grower. All that being said Cats in Boots are still right there near the top of my ‘Must see live’ list.
Track listing: 1. Narnia 2. She Talks Too Much 3. Hologram Man 4. Tragic Alter Ego 5. Silver & Gold 6. Chasing Diamonds 7. Unicorn 8. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Space Overture 9. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Johnny Rocket 10. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Thunder In The Night 11. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – One Small Step 12. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Twilight 13. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Yesterday’s News 14. The Story Of Johnny Rocket – Destination Unknown
Cats in Space undertake a UK tour in March, April and May 2019, with support from Rock Goddess on selected dates with the other support bands to be confirmed in due course.
