Catchfools - Country Club

Catchfools

Country Club 
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

If you take a look at the Bandcamp page for Catchfools’ recent release Country Club you are greeted with a picture of young dudes. They all look like they are about drinking age or younger and are hanging hard. I was a young man about that age once and both the creation of music and being an active listener to it was integral to my not going insane. 

After listening to Country Club I have feeling these guys are in the same boat I was in almost twenty years ago. Throughout Country Club the lyrics allude to notions of frustration, escapism and romanticism. 

It also states on their Bandcamp page that the music is avant-garde. Nope not true. The songs on Country Club are fairly straightforward rock/pop tunes. That being said, a majority of the tracks are quite enjoyable and benefit from above average lyrics that avoid typical clichés and tropes. 

Country Club leaves a number of things to be desired in terms of recording quality but it certainly wasn’t so bad as to where I couldn’t enjoy what I was hearing. In fact for being a complete DIY effort I would say it’s slightly above average.

Blair Carlyle (vocals/guitar/bass), Stephen Fabre (guitar/vocals/bass), Nate Roma (bass/vocals) and Pedro Reyes (drums) play well together and it is apparent on the very first song “Chloroform.” The song is pretty infectious and Carlyle introduces a number of vocal melodies that stick in your head. It’s a song that is thought out, dynamic and certainly got the band in my good graces. The band has some fun with Weezer-esque “Tilta's Second Dollhouse” while “I Don't Know Yet” features some solid vocal harmonies. They close well with “Palo Alto.”

Catchfools still has some work to do if they want to compete with the big boys but this EP builds a solid foundation. Not bad guys.

Become A Fan

bandcamp

Tweet