Cat Empire preview

Cat Empire
Martyrs’, Chicago
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Felines are sure throwing their weight around these days in the music industry. First, we had Cat Power sulking, bent over a piano and now Cat Empire is poised to become the latest thing in Afro-Cuban jazz, Buena Vista Social Club-style. Except, the six-piece hails from Australia, flirts with hip-hop, and has more in common with Dave Matthews than one would think. Oh, and throw a turntable into the mix to boot.

These Melbourne boys are a far cry from “Waltzing Matilda” or Men At Work and recorded their U.S. debut, Two Shoes (Velour), in Havana, Cuba at Egrem Studios to prove it. The result is an eclectic fusion of horns, organ, and guitars that conjure up the Old World tastes and smells of Cuba, yet does so with a pop sensibility unbeknownst to that country.

Despite sickness, food rations, and a lack of basic necessities that Americans take for granted (like access to toothpaste), the members of Cat Empire, Felix Riebl (vocals, percussion), Will Hull-Brown (drums), Harry J. Angus (trumpet, vocals), Ollie McGill (banjo, melodica), Ryan Monro (bass), and Jamshid “Jumps” Khadiwala (turntable, percussion) forged on with the recording, preferring live takes complete with all the warts and pimples unassociated with many popular recordings. Not that these minor mistakes are significantly noticeable, but the lack of overproduced sheen is refreshing.

Energy pulsates through Two Shoes and it is easy to see why their previous efforts earned multi-platinum sales overseas. Bonnaroo already loves them as evidenced by Cat Empire’s boisterous performance at the Tennessee festival last summer. Chi-town needs something to turn the temperature up in these frigid months.

Chicago rapper Diverse opens.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly