Review: Cat's Eyes 'Cat's Eyes'

CAT'S EYES
Cat's Eyes
[Co-Op]

Cat's Eyes is an odd collaboration between Faris Badwan, frontman for feted British indie-rockers The Horrors; and Canadian opera singer and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira. The unlikely pair bonded over a shared love of 1960s girl-group pop, deciding to use that unifying passion as a basis for writing the songs which appear on this, their self-titled debut album. Produced by Steve Osborne (New Order), Cat's Eyes stretch the boundaries of the genre almost beyond recognition with a heavily classical, Gothic bombast filtered through a myriad of machines - reinterpreting the sound of Phil Spector's female charges of the '60s for the post-dubstep generation. Imagine Massive Attack fronted by The Ronettes. Or, try imagining a porno starring Kate Bush, Nick Cave and Prefuse 73, directed by Vangelis' evil twin. Ooer! The money shot comes with the contrast between Badwan's part-Ian Curtis, part-Roy Orbison baritone and Zeffira's breathy, precise soprano. Flawed, but definitely intriguing.

3 stars from 5