Catatonia
Equally Cursed And Blessed
Atlantic CD

Review by Reef Valmont

Rumors are that Cerys Matthews, future Mrs. Valmont and the hard-drinking sweet-sounding sexaysassy desolation angel vocalist of Welsh band Catatonia, is the next Britstar in line for huge US acceptance and adoration. The press love her, TV loves her, radio loves her, every straight male who has ever seen her loves her, therefore you, the popkids, will worship her and Catatonia will do the nigh-on-impossible for UK bands and 'crack America.' Suede couldn't do it. Happy Mondays couldn't do it. Coldplay, Animalhouse, My Vitriol and Terris probably won't be able to do it. Catatonia just might. Honest squire.

Let's hope so, 'cause Equally Cursed And Blessed is a year-old storming record worthy of anyone's attention, (it was originally released in Britain in April '99) and if it takes the low-slung pants, stories of drunken nights out and mussed blond hair of Ms. Cerys to pathe the way for the tunes, that's no crime. In fact, it's good, noble and very impure because dirty Cerys IS the key to Catatonia and everything they do. Whether she's causing political rows in the British press or storming stages to lip-attack doddery old REM, she's always in some kind of spotlight. (There's an old NME headline that reads "Cerys and Reef to perform at Glastonbury" - and don't think I haven't wished that was true a million times. Sex jokes ahoy!) With that in mind, know that it's the Dunhill and Chivas Regal vocals of Cerys M. that make Catatonia a special band. (Mr Dunhill and Mr Chivas, my address is available in the KTL pages if you want to 'thank' me for product placement.)

OK, the songs. Lead-off track and first US single 'Dead From The Waist Down' is bitter-sweet come-down Catatonia, strings, acoustic guitars and Bacharach pacing and progression. "Make hay not war, or else we're done for" croons Cerys sweetly in the choruses, lulling you into a false sense of awwwwww-ness if you don't know what's coming.

'Londinium' is all about how England's capital saps your soul and empties your wallet. Clever word-play and a catchy-as-fuck chorus make this a quintissential Catatonia song. It sighs, it moans, then it kicks your arse before falling under the table while the guitars send us all to bed.

"He came on ecclesiastically..." slurs Cerys dirtily at the start of the lurching leering 'Postscript' with it's ironic chorus of "I'm A Good Girl." Just when you think you have Catatonia's sound nailed, they swoop down out of nowhere like a magic swan and take your feet away. Fantastic. 'She's A Millionaire' is so addictive in it's simplicity it should be the cause of moral debates, 'Storm The Palace' is glitter-punk stutter-rock with class to put Elastica to shame, 'Karaoke Queen' is, duh, the one you'll be drunkenly singing in Maga-fucking-loof or Costa Del Sol this Summer, and we're not even halfway yet. That's all I'm going to say, it's down to you now, but trust me when I say that this time next year Cerys will be every girl's rock star glitter goddess and every boy's guilty fascination.

This week's 'You Are A Stupid American And Therefore Need Incentives' Bonus - the inclusion of 2 ace British hit extra tracks - the magnificent duo of 'Road Rage' and 'Mulder And Scully' - from the UK International Velvet album.

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