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Summer Cats

Songs For Tuesdays

Slumberland

Jul 26, 2009 Web Exclusive By Kyle Lemmon

If this summer didn't already have a glut of anthems to soundtrack your next sunburn, Slumberland Records have some indie pop heroes to introduce to you. Summer Cats stick their feet in the door before the fall turns on their winsome debut, Songs For Tuesdays. The Melbourne quintet’s aesthetic is a teen angst-addled conflation of Stereolab’s thrust and The Smiths’ melancholia. Throwing in references to several C86 groups helps too. Summer Cats' pop is not as obscured as labelmates The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Liechtenstein though. These 13 tracks often glom time-honored '60s charms and leave the innovation for their gloomier brethren.

The barely 30-minutes album flies by as lead vocalist Scott Stevens clicks off the usual warm-weather signifiers: "burning rubber," taking "cute" girls to the movies, and scoring on the first date all scream past in the rear-view mirror. Summer Cats make ecstatic jangle-pop made for your next trip to the beach. At last, the memories of a summer foolin’ around will ultimately fade and Songs For Tuesdays’ flimsy setup quickly becomes tedious. “In June” and “Wild Rice” string together Summer Cats’ finest series of guitar hooks and boy-girl chants but most of this album is as varied as the sand you’d place your towel on. (www.myspace.com/summercats)

Author rating: 5/10

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