Review: Cats In Space – Time Machine
Esoteric Antenna (October 25th, 2024)
Reviewer: David Pearce
If you have never come across Cats in Space I can only enquire where you have been over the past eight years?! Quite possibly the most enjoyable rock band around, the Cats take their music incredibly seriously and themselves much less so. The line up is Damien Edwards on vocals, Greg Hart and Dean Howard on guitars, Steevi Bacon on drums, Jeff Brown on bass and Andy Stewart on keyboards. The musicians have all been around the block at least three times, while Damien, although younger, has also been on the scene for a good while. Their fans are absolutely incredible and have given the Cats the support they have needed to plough their furrow with self-financed releases. However, they have now signed up with the Esoteric Antenna label run by Cherry Red Records. Their latest album ‘Time Machine’ is their first with the new label, so let’s travel with them into the past and into the future.
The first track, ‘Time Machine’, is a soundscape of TARDIS style sounds with a playful burst of the Westminster Chimes before heading into the heavy glam rock territory of Sweet and Slade. Damien Edwards is immediately into his stride with a voice that can soar to the heights and reach the depths without seeming to exert himself. Steevi Bacon gives a bravura performance on the drums channelling Slade’s Don Powell while Greg Hart and Dean Howard give their guitars a serious workout. The lyrics have the usual Cats in Space mix of humour and thought-provoking ideas. In this case, the chance of reliving your youth that lies within you.
‘My Father’s Eyes’ is a rock ballad that will have many sons and daughters listening to it with tears in theirs as Edwards does full justice to the emotional lyrics. It is a song that will have you thinking about your own relationship with your Dad. ‘Crashing Down’ is the aftermath of a failed love affair which benefits from the amazing keyboard work of Andy Stewart as well as Edwards’ ability to wring every piece of emotion from the words. ‘Occam’s Razor’ is a top class piece of glam rock influenced song-writing that is going to be one of the most popular tracks from the album on this year’s live tour.
The engine room of Bacon’s drumming comes together with Jeff Brown making his bass the cornerstone of the track’s sound. ‘Forever and Ever’ is another reflective ballad of the type that the Cats have always done so well. This song contains one of Edwards’ two best vocal performances on the album and it’s up there with anything else he has done since he joined the group. It’s spellbinding and I predict this will become a huge fan favourite. ‘Ivory Anthem’ centres on Andy Stewart channelling Bat Out of Hell era Roy Bittan to such effect that I swear it could be the legend himself moonlighting on the record. It’s an instrumental track that absolutely goes to the top of the list of Stewart’s amazing repertoire. Wait till you hear this in concert!
‘Run for your Life’ is a really catchy song that sees the strengths of each individual member of the band gelling together brilliantly. ‘This Velvet Rush’ once again features brilliant keyboard work from Stewart who is absolutely at the top of his game on this album. It’s a romantic ballad that shows a real subtlety both musically and lyrically. It’s a great start to Side 2 of the album. ‘Yesterday’s Sensation’ is 10cc reborn and on top form. Musically it’s as catchy as it gets and the lyrics are hilariously on point as they look at a singer who has gone out of fashion. It actually had me laughing out loud at points, and it is a great tongue in cheek lament for the state of the rock industry. It is, in a sense, a follow up to ‘I Fell Out of Love with Rock and Roll’ and ‘Hologram Man’ from their previous albums.
‘Immortal’ is a no nonsense hymn of praise to the importance of rock music that will have the fists pumping in concert. ‘When Love Collides’ is simply sublime. It’s right up there with ‘Forever and Ever’ and once again demonstrates that Edwards is the finest rock vocalist around at the moment.
‘No Regrets’ is the first of four bonus tracks on the CD and is a great cover of The Walker Brothers song that has been covered by Midge Ure amongst others. The second cover is ‘Music’ originally by John Miles! It gets the full Cats treatment of beautifully sung verses followed by a guitar onslaught that somehow works! The final cover is ‘How Does it Feel’ originally done by Slade and a live staple for the Cats since their earliest days. When I first saw them on the Rising Stage at Ramblin’ Man in 2016 they performed this and it’s great to finally have it on record with Damien Edwards singing it. The final track is ‘This Velvet Rush (Ghost Mix)’ which is nice, although by no means essential, and brings the album to a reflective close.
The Cats have a sound that allows you to spot influences, as indeed I have throughout their career, but it is unmistakeably Cats in Space. They are now as recognisable as Queen, ELO or Slade were in their prime and there’s so few other groups you can say that about. The Cats in Space juggernaut rolls on, and if the change of label brings long overdue success to some of the nicest guys in music it will be brilliant.
Tracklist:
1 Time Machine
2 My Father’s Eyes
3 Crashing Down
4 Occam’s Razor (Not the End of the World)
5 Forever and Ever
6 Ivory Anthem
7 Run for Your Life
8 This Velvet Rush
9 Yesterday’s Sensation
10 Immortal
11 When Love Collides
CD Edition Bonus tracks
12 No Regrets
13 Music
14 How Does it Feel
15 This Velvet Rush (Ghost mix)
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