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The Cat Empire
So Many Nights
(Velour)
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2008, Volume 15, #4
Written by John Metzger
Thu April 24, 2008, 08:30 AM CDT
Based solely upon its first four tracks, The Cat Empire’s latest effort So
Many Nights not only builds magnificently upon the band’s American debut
Two Shoes, but it also contains some of the most immediately engaging,
dance-party music to be issued thus far in 2008. Sure, the title track, which
opens the disc, contains a few moves that were plucked straight from Wilson
Pickett’s In the Midnight Hour and Isaac Hayes’ Soul Man. Laced
with disco strings, funky beats, and hip-hop grooves, however, the song succeeds
in drawing a connection to the past without simply regurgitating it. Although
the tempo slows for the subsequent tune, Panama’s gentle blend of warm,
soulful elegance and dramatic, 5th Dimension-derived, pop-imbued
sunshine serves as the perfect setup for the explosive, hip-shaking exuberance
of Fishies. Rounding out this terrific sequence is Sunny Moon,
during which The Cat Empire transplants Phish to the island shores of Cuba.
Unfortunately, although the rest of So Many Nights is good, none of it
fares nearly as well as the album’s first few songs. At least, The Cat Empire
seems to be aware of the issues with which it is wrestling. It brought veteran
producer John Porter on board to help smooth over its eccentricities, and it’s
undeniable that the resulting endeavor is tighter and more cohesive than any of
the band’s previous forays. At 56 minutes in length, however, So Many Nights
also is too long for the group to succeed in maintaining its initial momentum.
At times, The Cat Empire revisits the Jamaican-influence that filtered
through its early work (Til the Ocean Takes Us All and Lonely Moon);
other moments (So Long, No Mountain) sound like lesser versions of
So Many Nights’ opening tracks. Although the horns blast and blare while
the strings either drip with Beatle-esque psychedelia or provide an aggressive
shimmer to The Cat Empire’s mirror-ball mayhem, the set still becomes bogged
down in its mid-section. The pacing is all off-kilter, and the group appears to
be struggling to develop a fresh batch of ideas.
Two-thirds of the way through So Many Nights, The Cat Empire finally
finds a new sonic space to explore. The Darkness’ ominous and eerie,
Middle-Eastern-tinged textures stand in sharp contrast to the ensemble’s typical
sunbaked grooves, and its transition back to familiar ground — which moves
through the Doors-ian blues of Voodoo Cowboy — provides a few intriguing
twists and turns that should provide fodder for the group’s future projects.
It’s obvious that The Cat Empire is experiencing some growing pains, but these
might have been minimized had a few cuts been excised from the center of the
collection. Either way, though, So Many Nights should be considered a
transitional effort, albeit one that also happens to feature a handful of
unforgettable songs. 
So Many Nights is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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