Cats And Dogs

Melody Maker - "...a genuinely unsettling amalgam of edgy rock noises from the past 25 years and the next 10. `Turn Of The Century,' scarred, sad and intensely sluggish, provides some kind of centrepiece and key to the whole thing....a strange, nagging, gripping album..." Rolling Stone - 3 1/2 Stars - Very Good - "...Royal Trux's fourth and more accessible LP....like, say, the Stones from an alternate universe. Haunting, baffling stuff--and highly recommended..." NME - 7 - Very Good - "...As its rhythms and voices slump in and out of sync, CATS AND DOGS casts a sordid spell, and by the time `Turn Of The Century' disappears in a haze of sweet smoke you're hooked...." Option - "...CATS AND DOGS is terribly arty, postured, scattered and unfocused, and ultimately quite lovable..." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "CATS AND DOGS found Royal Trux employing a proper drummer for the first time, allowing their songs to lock into viscous grooves. The riffs are tighter, the vocals snarled and intense." Mojo - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Rock as a wide open road, a free-roaming caper through space-cake FX inventions..." The Wire - "[T]he album moves even more deeply into rockist turn....[T]he extra musicians lend a new linear propulsion."

Recorded for America's number one low-fi underground label, Cats and Dogs was the first indication that Royal Trux could do more than whip up a tornado of distortion. A little less focused than Thank You, it still has its moments of splendor, especially when it sounds as though it's going to fall apart and, suddenly, comes back together. ~ John Dougan|