Cats In Paris @ Cab Vol

In the current turnaround of modern society faux-innocence seems to be gaining favour in rejection of the popular worldliness of the 80s and 90s. This extends to musical aesthetics. Two bands who could be swept up in this wave are the UK’s own Cats In Paris and Mitchell Museum, both of whom performed pleasantly interesting sets at Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire on Saturday.

It seems that this trend is a throwback of the punk ideal of bygone era: simple musicianship making way for the songwriting to thrive and the bands to express themselves freely without the virtuosic training requisite to some genres. Mitchell Museum, who opened the night, fit this description rather well.

Infectious singalong vibe which could only have been enforced by slightly military march sounding unison chants which, among a better acquainted audience, I’m sure would work to great effect to rouse crowd participation.

With their dual vocals, percussive shouts and laughs and thematic songs Mitchell Museum create an infectious singalong vibe which could only have been enforced by slightly military march sounding unison chants which, among a better acquainted audience, I’m sure would work to great effect to rouse crowd participation. The band create very different vibes between live performance and of their recorded material as their live show feels far more intimately connective than the playful essence of their recordings. In concert the band struck me as a blend of Bright Eyes’ childlike expression of moods and Placebo’s well fitted jigsaw of simplicity and interesting material to suit each song whereas recorded the band evoke more Flaming Lips and Polyphonic Spree-like connotations of more grown-up orchestration building from simple, effective ideas. However one chooses to compare them Mitchell Museum successfully psyched the audience up for the night’s headliners, Cats In Paris.

Epic sounding step up from the opening band yet still utilising bleepy keyboard sounds, raw vocals and spazzy changes similar to the openers.

The pairing of bands worked wonderfully, Cats creating the impression of Muse’s ADHD sibling, a more epic sounding step up from the opening band yet still utilising bleepy keyboard sounds, raw vocals and spazzy changes similar to the openers. Sadly the emptiness of an already small venue, probably a result of close to no promotion, made the vastness of the band’s presence feel somewhat wasted, not for the want of trying. In a larger, packed venue I feel the band would thrive with a swarming mass to assimilate into their asymmetrical yet gripping rhythms and captivating visuals which were matched perfectly to each track, clearly the result of much painstaking scouting, editing, planning and live perception without feeling contrived. Upon a 50 foot stadium screen these projections would combine to create the essence of grandeur this band’s sound deserves.

Had the concert been afforded better promotion and some more support bands to provide the build Cats In Paris needed it would have been a storming success but in the existing circumstances it felt cut short and underappreciated. By no means should these criticisms be taken as a reason not to see Cats In Paris for oneself as I feel attendance would largely rectify these issues and it would be a terrible shame to miss this wonderful grassroots genius of creativity.

Cats In Paris’ new self-distributed 7” ‘The One’ can be purchased from www.catsinparis.org or heard at www.myspace.com/catsinparis.