Lasix and Paracetamol

B-

As much as I hate categorizing bands, I'll admit it's convenient to pigeonhole bands into neat little compartments. It's almost a matter of necessity as it is convenience, in this field anyway. I've seen Catatonia lumped in with other Britpop bands just based on their place of residence ... but what *is* Britpop? Catatonia don't sound like Oasis ... or the Verve ... or Teenage Fanclub ... or ... well, you see my point. If anything, they're closest to Sleeper, who aren't nearly Britpop as much as they are just ... rock.

So, for the sake of this review, we'll call Catatonia a Mad Libs band. Formulate your own stock review, leaving blanks for vital nouns and verbs and adjectives (which I'll provide below). It'll be fun for the whole family.

Name: Catatonia

Nationality: Welsh

Current album: International Velvet

Single that should have broken them big Stateside but barely made a dent: The impossibly catchy "Mulder and Scully" - could it be that programmers saw it as nothing more than novelty?

Neat thing singer Cerys Mathews does that sets her apart from others in her field: Utilizes her Welsh accent to full effect on "Road Rage", trilling her r's and making me weak-kneed. But the accent is also a minor detriment - keep your lyric sheet handy while listening to this record.

The first four songs on the latest record are: Tasty, catchy guitar pop with hooks-a-plenty. "I Am The Mob" and "Road Rage" (both of which are also featured on the EP A's, B's and C's of Catatonia, including an extended live version of the latter) are twin anthems that are catchier than fly paper - even if "Road Rage" utilizes the quiet/loud formula popularized by Nirvana and beaten into oblivion by Bush, among others.

The next five songs on the record are: Not nearly as memorable, but not downright forgettable either. "Goldfish and Paracetamol", "Johnny Come Lately", "Why I Can't Stand One Night Stands" - the casual listener wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

The end of the album is: Moving, albeit a tad formulaic, balladry that drives me (a recovering softie, to be sure) to near tears. "Strange Glue" is as deeply moving a song as I've heard in years - when Mathews sings, "But I don't have the right to be with you tonight/So please leave me alone with no saviour in sight/I will sleep safe and sound with nobody around me," you can't help but let out a pitiful whimper.

Question I'd ask band: "What the hell *is* paracetamol, anyway?"

Proud nationalistic thing band does on record: Save for the gang-shouted chorus ("Every day when I wake up, I thank the Lord I'm Welsh"), the title track is entirely in Welsh. Sadly, I don't own a Welsh-English dictionary.

In short, Catatonia start out the gates quickly with International Velvet. Though it fades coming into the turn, it picks it up in the backstretch and could very well end up in the money (they're already on their fourth single from the record in the U.K.). The fact that they have big-label distribution, as well as Neil Young's label (Vapor Records), behind them can't hurt, and they still leave hope for fans who were disappointed when Urban Hymns and Be Here Now didn't take over the world. Still, they won't leave more than a passing mark on you, but at the same time, they won't leave a bad taste in your mouth either. They're just there, but at least being there constitutes something. I just can't put my finger on what it is.

--Brandon Grimes