Bos Taurus

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
Little was known about Manchester-based musician Oliver Catt's project Fantasy Rainbow just a year before his debut full-length release Bos Taurus, but his music caught on like wildfire across the blogosphere and soon enough Catt was in Nashville, Tennessee recording an album. His sound was born out of his bedroom, where he wrote sunshine-drenched melodies that underlie the lo-fi, breezy, indie rock sound that commands this record. While it saunters into life with the short and sweet opener "Soda Scream," there is more satisfaction in the gristly "Nothing But" that ends in wonderfully trashy guitars and anguished vocals. The album meanders through well-worn themes of youth and growing up, but Catt's wit and romanticized lyrics, alongside the summery hooks of songs such as "O, Weirdo" and experimental tendencies, go some way toward justifying comparisons to the likes of Deerhunter, Wavves, and Cloud Nothings. The meat of the record comes from the roaming "Bread Biscuit," which stops and starts seemingly without direction, but returns habitually to the brash, yelled chorus in the unorthodox structure that Catt frequents. The fuzzy "Portra" rings with simple, garage-style drums and Weezer-esque rhythms that are far from uniformed throughout. This accompanies the music in an almost rhythmic melody as Catt's clean vocal delivery cuts through the distorted guitars in an abject, yet direct manner. Although the record isn't the most ferociously paced, the noticeable slow down of "EZ Coast" is welcome as the lethargic guitars and hazy vocals feel far more intimate than the rest of the album and give glimpses of a fragility that Catt rarely displays throughout the rest of the album. The greatest attribute of Catt's music is that he isn't shy to mix the poppy hooks and melodies with often unusual structures and effects-laden guitars. And the album loses none of its lo-fi appeal, despite the full production at Vance Powell's Sputnik Sound Studios by producer Ed Spear. Bos Taurus really is an illustration of the final days of adolescence, and Fantasy Rainbow captures it perfectly here, with songs that are slightly awkward, whimsical, and full of youthful energy. ~ Scott Kerr