More than anything else, Carly Nicklaus from the Catch wants you to know that the band is about having fun. And she should know; she spoke to me from the fourth hot tub she and the band have found themselves in since they started their tour. These women rock hard, so it’s only right that they indulge in a little R&R.
On the Catch's debut album, the aptly named “Get Cool,” the band wants you to know that if you haven't heard of them yet, you will. They’ve been compared to everyone from the Go Go’s to The Ramones — and actually both descriptions fit. The four members rock, but also have a flirtatious poppy quality. It’s hard to listen to them without moving around, which is what makes the Go Go’s comparison so right on — I did the same thing to “Beauty and the Beat,” the difference was I was 12. Lacking the self consciousness of a lot of bands playing today, the Catch's cool retro feel is like something you might have found on a mix tape from your best friend in 1983
Let’s face it, feisty, sassy women rule. The opening track of the CD, “Nothin’ But Time” has this awesome, “yeah, I’m fine without you and maybe if I keep saying it over and over it will actually be true” vibe. While you’re dancing, you can just shake your head, laugh and say, “I’ve done that. Um, yeah, and that. And, that, too.” Even the angst on this CD is fun.
Heck, there are even hand claps on the song, “Between Friends,” which has a great, “Hey, buddy, I love you — why don’t you give me a chance” kind of a vibe. “Let me be different,” Nicklaus sings. “Let me try / Let me love you, don’t ask why.”
The Catch has some great loopy keyboard work from Amy Rockwell, and Jenny Jimenez brings everything together with her bass grooves
And you can’t argue with drummer Alissa Newton’s teasing “nah, nah, nah, nah, nahs” in the song “Empty My Pockets.” It’s very hard to listen to this one without joining in on those backing vocals. This is a great song about a girl who’s seeing a guy who has a long-distance girlfriend; it has a great, slightly bratty, “Hey, don’t judge me” kind of feel. “Because when she’s out of town,” Nicklaus sings, “I’ll still be around.”
Nicklaus said that she and the others don’t have some grand plan mapped out about conquering the music world. “We just make music,” Nicklaus says, with a modesty that belies the band’s talent. She and the band had planned to put out the record themselves, but were happy to find a home at Made in Mexico Records, which Nicklaus says, “feels like a family.”
They count The Pale, Aqueduct, USE (a band Nicklaus also plays in) and The Divorce as some of the bands they’d like to play with. “We have this dream of doing a big festival with all our friends,” Nicklaus says.
Um, can someone out there please put that together?
For more information on The Catch, visit: http://www.thecatchmusic.com.