Falling
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from MGM Distribution
Pink & Blue and Green EP
Listen/buy from iTunes
Buy online from Cumbersome Records
reviews
MIRROR
MOJO Magazine September 2008
UK debut compiled from Melbourne slo-core trio’s back catalogue
Given Catnip’s sonic bond with somnambulant trios Galaxie 500 and
Low, who’ve both worked with New York alt-rock champ Kramer (of Bongwater
and Shimmy Disc label fame), it’s no surprise he’s sprinkling
fairy dust here, remixing cuts from the Australians’ two albums, 2003’s
Pink & Blue & Green and 2007’s Falling, and releasing them
himself from his new Miami base. Catnip suit Kramer’s tropical location;
Nerida Trask’s half-asleep croon, drummer Greg Ryan’s jazzy
restraint and guitarist Richmond Brain deliver hefty doses of sunburnt bliss…Richmond
is the real star here, bridging desert blues and Cocteau Twins-style nu-gaze
loops to lend Wish I Was a Bird and cover of Dylan’s Tomorrow is a
Long Time a goose-bumpy, hallucinatory edge that sets Catnip apart from
their peers.
Martin Aston
Plan B Magazine August 2008
Somewhere down in Australia they not only remember drowsy psych/shoegaze,
they actually do something with it. Catnip, a trio from Melbourne, clearly
adore albums by the likes of Mazzy Star and Mojave 3, not to mention homegrown
heroes like the Paradise Motel, and ‘Mirror’, given a bit of
further attractive murk and mellotron via the mix job by Kramer, shows they
love wisely rather than too well on that front. Vocalist Nerida Trask, however,
both sounds like her inspirations and puts down her own stamp, adding a
touch of clipped bite to songs like “The Great Escape” (not
a movie theme cover), but the quieter moodouts like “Sad Song”
have their own spare glow to them, almost understatedly postpunk in a Young
Marble Giants/Raincoats way. A cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow
Is a Long Time: closes it out but otherwise it’s all them, and it’s
all pretty promising.
Ned Raggett
Uncut Magazine July 2008
It’s easy to understand what drew former Galaxie 500 & Low producer Kramer to Catnip, who’s international debut is remixed and is now releasing. The drowsy pace of the seductive Aquamarine or the gently disconcerting Fly With Me match the elegant restraint of his former protégés while also bringing to mind the minimalist gothic beauty of Mazzy Star… Eden Park
FALLING
The Age Newspaper February 2007
Cinematic is one way to describe this Melbourne trio whose electo-rootsy ballads could get a run on any modern romance flick. Nerida Trask’s haunting textured vocals recall the Waifs and Beth Orton. Richmond Brain’s lap steel guitar is a highlight throughout – especially on single Here We Go Again. Catnip’s influences include the Flaming Lips Icelandic sound-scape engineers Sigur Ros and the Dears, as well as Bob Dylan, whose ballad Tomorrow is beautifully covered (thankfully) mins synth. Brain’s analog synth often creates a gritty sense of foreboding that can go hand-in-hand with an unplanned fling. Drummer Greg Ryan’s off-beat rhythms in Fly With Me and Falling inspires slideshows of passionately begun, and ended, affairs. While a bit soppy, this Catnp crop could complement your next romantic meltdown and/or anything starring Hurgh Grant. Key Track: the Great Escape builds to a rousing crescendo that is both dark and promising.
Alex Johnson
www.americana-uk.com
An affectingly spooky and haunting debut from a gifted and adventurous band...The vocal style of singer Nerida Trask calls to mind Harriet Wheeler of 90s Brit band The Sundays, with occasional hints of the Cowboy Junkies Margo Timmins and Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser. The musical backing wanders from electronica into something more organic and rootsy and back again, like a less funereal Black Heart Procession, particularly on Here We Go Again, which has some fine other worldly guitar drifting around amongst keyboard bleeps and blips. The record creates a haunting lonely sunlit atmosphere, and although Nerida's vocals don't go as far as the Liz Fraser non-language thing, they significantly contribute to the mood as another instrument, at least as much as they do in terms of lyrics. The drums too are not merely beat keeping but adding textures, such as on the closing of Wish I Was A Bird. Stay has a touch of David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti menace, indeed much of the record has cinematic open spaces running through it. Tomorrow Is A Long Time is early Cowboy Junkies style, but like many of the songs, it's so well done that the influences just get overridden. A very promising debut. 8 out of 10
Patrick Wilkins
PINK & BLUE AND GREEN
Luna Kafé - Full Moon 91 - 3/6/04
It's difficult to resist the alluring whisper of "blue aquamarine / swim under with me", especially in the midst of a sweltering February coastal heat and so it is with Catnip's debut EP. This four-tracker from the Melbourne four-piece will have you diving down deep, drinking in their cool lucid beauty.
Opener "Pink & Blue & Green" has a slow languid march about it with the stratospheric lap steel/slide adding in no small way to the lush darkness. The bubble & hum of samples and effects, most pronounced on "Lullaby" adds an enticing layer to the wunnerful underplay of vocalist Nerida Trask.
The abovementioned "Aquamarine" captures the sensuality of swimming in the cool blue stuff with an intimate someone and falling under the spell of it all. Having spun this disc many times since its arrival I still marvel at how Catnip have managed to nail it so damn perfectly. From the unhurried percussion, light touch of effects and outstanding fretwork, they've set quite a high standard for themselves. Impressive stuff.
Guitarist Richmond Brain puts in a stunning performance across all four songs. Displaying a refined versatility similar to the jagged snaky echo of Michael Timmins, the fluidity of Lou Reed and the steely late night blues of fellow Melbournian Matt Walker, Brain's fretwork is a highlight of this outstanding release.
If you're a sucker, as I am, for music such as this (floating n' pulsing, dark n' sad without being morose), direct all enquiries to Melbourne. With Heligoland, Silver Ray and others releasing premium cuts of aching fragility over the last year or so, there's something in the rarefied air of that fair city.
Catnip are currently in the studio recording their debut album. A very exciting piece o' news for punters in possession of this gem. A beguiling little taster it is for future Catnip.
Copyright © 2004 Brian Stradbrook
Splendid-e-Zine
Catnip are well named: after indulging in this four-song EP, you'll want nothing more than to sprawl out on the carpet or the sofa, limbs akimbo, while someone rubs your back or your stomach or whatever, really, as long as they don't quit rubbing.
There's an obvious reference point for this Australian group's leisurely mix of languorous lap steel, subtle guitar and synth, gentle percussion and sleepy female vocals; if you've ever heard a Mazzy Star record, Pink & Blue & Green will sound very familiar. Fortunately, Catnip aren't knockoff artists. Their melodies are simpler, and they work from a broader stylistic base, as demonstrated by the shoegaze-style fuzziness around their songs' edges, not to mention the electronic filigree hidden in the depths of "Aquamarine". Richmond Brain, the brilliantly-named multi-instrumentalist responsible for much of Catnip's sound, demonstrates admirable artistic restraint throughout the EP, resisting the temptation to overuse that distinctive lap steel; that's why the EP sounds like indie rock rather than the output of a successful "Drink Cough Syrup and Jam" night.
Vocalist Nerida Trask gives a similarly even-handed, unaffected performance. Unlike Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval, she doesn't sound as if she's completely detached from the song and in imminent danger of falling asleep. It sounds like she has a legitimate emotional investment in the music, evident in her straightforward delivery; she never sounds rushed or stagey.
This carefully-measured dose of Catnip induces mild euphoria. Enjoy it in the safety of your home, and never use it while you're driving or operating heavy machinery.
George Zahora
Inpress - 5/11/03
A slice or four of delightfully low-key lush life from yet another talented new Melbourne band. The sound is somewhere between Mick Turner's elegiac Moth and Jonathon Richman's quieter moments, with purring female vocals layered over the top like velvet. There are lots of very appealing references to "the animals who come to talk softly" and "Birds Chirping/Smiling beaks”, giving the songs a dreamlike Adventures of Moomintroll quality.
Time Off - 12/11/03
Award-winning Waifs producer Chris Thompson again shows his ability to capture the most simple and clean sounds. He is, however, helped enormously here by a band that obviously knows exactly what they want. From Nerida Trask’s delicate vocals on the title track to the pairing of lap steel and synthesizer on ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘Blue’. Catnip turn through every shade of the colour chart without even raising an eyebrow. (AC)
OzMusicProject - December 03
Slowly meandering into the listener's consciousness first comes softly whispered female vocals, with a delicacy that neither oversteps the saccharine twee line, nor losing itself to an airy presence without intimacy. Think a less baroque version of The Paradise Motel crossed with bits of Portishead/Mazzy Star.
That just comes through on the first 30 seconds of Catnip's "Pink & Blue & Green" EP, a delectable collection of quiet but involving tunes that mixes the heaven-sent vocals amidst some fine-grained guitarwork. (See the title track and "Aquamarine") There's also in places a one part to five worth of nice pedal steel, and in tracks like "Lullaby" the guitar aches amidst the extremely subtle potted electro beeps added in. Blink and you'll miss em.
A mere 19 minutes and it's all over, Catnip have a dreamy smoothness about them, something that is instantly captivating and wholesomely beautiful. A gorgeous debut release. Jaz
Babes in Boysland - May 2004
Sliding along steel guitars on Hope Sandoval-like vocals, except for "Lullaby" that sounds more like Lisa Germano. Layers of discreet electronic effects add up to the serenity of the whole. This artist is an atmosphere designer. Imagine Alice falling into a rabbit hole to meet a gentle queen, asleep in a bed of Summer flowers in bloom.
Time Off
Produced by Chris Thompson, Catnip’s new EP Pink & Blue & Green is a softly melancholic record, which offers dreamy lyrical songs set to soft acoustic and analogue electronic backing. It’s out on Feral Media.