Cats In Space – Day Trip To Narnia

716

5 Stars

*The album cover depicting Narnia is a delight.*

Audio CD (paid link)

2020 was a good year for new rock albums. Cats in Space’s third album, Day Trip to Narnia, is no exception. After Too May Gods (2015), Scarecrow (2017), and a positively bouncing live album, Cats Alive (2018), Day Trip To Narnia is a massive step in the right direction.

The album is nicely split into two concept pieces, played in their distinctive power pop/rock style. The first is delightfully called (as is the album) ‘Day Trip To Narnia,’ a wonderful glam rock story of the rise and fall of a pop star band. It uses the land of Narnia as a reference to the wonders of success, but how it’s not lasting. Especially when the music suits move in to make money from the hits and the band has to keep on playing them.

Of course, Narnia is not real. (Eyes Wide Open. “What?”) The story of success as told by the scriptwriters of Spinal Tap. The seedy side of our beloved rock’n’roll laid bare again. But fear not, the Cats tell the first story with such charm that you cannot help but be carried away by their enthusiasm and musical prowess.

*The Cats tell the story with such charm that you cannot help but be carried away by their enthusiasm and musical prowess.*

Cats in Space have many influences from the seventies that they wear proudly on their sleeves. Most notably on this album are The Sweet and Queen, but direct references can be made to the songs ‘Saturday Gigs’ by Mott The Hoople and ‘Shooting Star’ by Bad Company.

Individually, all the band members shine out, begging for your attention. In particular, the twin guitars of Greg Hart and Dean Howard work very well in harmony and deliver plenty of searing solos to bring your air guitars out. Andy (The Mad Hatter) Stewart is the band’s musical nucleus, holding everything together and adding beautiful flourishes from his various keyboards. You can always notice his solos on the album, but listen to any track and underpinning it are the Mad Hatter’s keyboards.

Steevi Bacon is far too much of an experienced player to fall into the traps told of the culprits in the Cats stories to flash his ego all over the album, and therefore the drum sound is not as flashy as some of his Glam Rock contemporizes. He is more of a rock drummer – a driving force, marshaling his band and keeping them on his marching beat.

Jeff Brown is one of those bass players who believes that a bass guitar is not a rhythm instrument to follow the band but should be out there in the front of the sound. This suits the Cats style and sounds perfectly. It really helps that he is an amazing bass player. Listen to the track ‘Thunder in the Night’ for a fine example of Jeff Brown’s bass playing.

Out the front is head drama queen cat, Paul Manzi, who lives the roles of his subjects to perfection, giving such loving pathos to his singing that he immediately wraps you up in the tale, very much in the style of a young Freddie Mercury.

Mick Wilson of 10cc fame is also associated with the Cats, and the 10cc influence is very noticeable.

The second concept is the story of ‘Johnny Rocket‘. For this, the band lose some, but certainly not all of their pop sensibilities to really put the old freak flag out there and rock out more. There’s plenty of high musical drama in this tale of a rock’n’roll Buzz Lightyear.

The album cover depicting Narnia is a delight.

The Cats’ plans of world domination with this album were somewhat thwarted when, after the first half of the tour for ‘Narnia‘, it was announced that Paul Manzi was leaving the Cats to become the lead singer of his idols, The Sweet. (Rather Ironically.) I wonder the wisdom of this, coming from an up-and-coming new band, moving to a band that had success in the seventies and are now on the nostalgia circuit. Paul Manzi’s head may well be in Narnia.

But the remaining Cats have assured their adoring public that they will find a new Cat and continue. More catnip to them, I say.