Catapult - The Architecture of a Year (1998, Blackbean & Placenta)

From my recollection, Catapult originated from New York's Capitol District, though I'm not sure if they were ever really ingratiated into the local "scene" as it were.  Genre-ly speaking, I always saw this trio as suffering from a bit of an identity crisis, encapsulated demonstrably within the confines of this disk.  Some of Architecture's opening salvos, particularly "August 15th" exude sad-core nuances, that to the band's credit were more enticing than what Seam and Codeine had to offer during the Clinton-era.  Elsewhere, Catapult indulge in mildly math-rawk textures, and by album's end there's some lightweight ambient/dub dabbling to boot.  What falls in between however is the most rewarding, namely two truly great slices of tremolo kissed noise-pop, "Next Door" and "Birthday," both of which angle in the vicinity of the Lilys and Swirlies.  In fact, Catapult's drummer would eventually collaborate with the latter of those two aforementioned dream-popsters.  "Sunday Sank at 11:00" slots into a similar realm, but sonically, offers an even more intricate latticework to dissect.  Alongside Architecture of a Year, Catapult were responsible for a handful of singles and an ep before parting ways. 

01. August 15th
02. Convert to Metric
03. Birthday
04. Sound of Night
05. Next Door
06. The Ink Truck
07. A Number One
08. Sunday Sank at 11:00
09. Supersurreal
10. Hit The Random Button

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