Friday, August 9, 2013

(The) Cateran - Ache (1989, What Goes On)

A friend of mine recommended this Scottish crew a few years back, I believe when we were chatting about Mega City Four and the like.  Found an original copy of Ache a couple weeks ago, and snagged it on that enthusiastic recommendation alone.  The Cateran's punk-pop stride was not to be overlooked, but they came equipped with an unruly psych-rock penchant as well, reminiscent of early Afghan Whigs and contemporary hopefuls Swallow (the Sub Pop Records band).  It's probably by sheer coincidence, but the vocal timbre of Sandy Macpherson slides into the realm of David Lowery on more than one occasion.  A rendition of the Jimi Hendrix chestnut, "Love or Confusion" meshes comfortably with the Cateran's own guitar wailin' melees.  Fun record.  Ache has been previously offered on other blogs (pretty sure the links are defunct by now), but this rip was taken from my own copy.  Enjoy (or not).

01. Ache
02. Kitty Kitten
03. Early Old
04. Tina
05. Hateable
06. Cage
07. Love or Confusion
08. Someone Else's Sun
09. Traffic Drone
10. Storm 7

Hear

2 comments:

tony party said...

I've liked this record for a very long time. Kitten Kitty is the stand out for me( probably because I was super into Mudhoney in the late 80s). I have to warn you, every other record before as after this is really reall NOT that great. I have searched and purchased 7 and eps and LP and all have fallen into the medioCORE bucket. Thanks for posting.

Norriemen said...

This was the bands third and final LP. They released an EP Die Tomorrow that failed to make any impression on the British indie charts and the band broke up in 1991. The negative title and the Country song Virgil's Way seemed an odd choice for me.
Vocals were actually by Cameron Fraser - Sandy MacPherson left the band in 1987 and Fraser took over as lead vocalist. Murdo MacLeod lead guitarist also provides backing vocals and lead vox on Storm 7. he went on to form The Joyriders along with bassist Kai Davidson. Recommended listening single King Of Gasoline (1992).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cateran
I saw the band perform 4 times between 89 and 1990 and they were fantastic live.
Ache is still one of the best LPs to come out of the 80's punk/grunge/ rock scene and it still sounds fresh today. Had they held it together longer they would have been destined for greater things.
There are some live recordings from these gigs that may be available.