Send "Cat's Eyes " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Guardian |
 You can see why Horrors frontman Faris Badwan might feel drawn to make an album with its roots in the sound of 60s girl groups. Like the Horrors – whose journey from presumed music-press joke to authentically thrilling Mercury-nominated experimentalists is about as improbable and cheering as pop stories get – the girl groups weren't supposed to last. Their music was disposable pop born out of the most disposable pop era – the bleak, forgotten period between the end of rock'n'roll's first wave in the late 50s and the rise of the Beatles in 1962/63. But the girl-group sound refused to stick to the script. It was anything but short lived; you can currently hear its influence all over the place in alt-rock, from Glasvegas to Best Coast to the Vaccines. Meanwhile, one of the most omnipresent styles in modern pop – retro soul a la Amy Winehouse – has its roots, according to Winehouse's producer Mark Ronson, in a game attempt to find a middle ground between the grimy funk samples of the Wu-Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M. and the Shangri-Las singles produced by Shadow Morton, the latter being the only man in history to listen to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and come to the conclusion that it was a bit too subtle and understated for its own good....full text |
| Pitchfork |
| For the past few years, Horrors frontman Faris Badwan has frequently turned his gaze to past sounds and styles, from the rockabilly gutter-punk lurking under the dirty fingernails of his band's 2007 LP, Strange House, to its surprisingly successful about-face embracing of dark, melodic post-punk on 2009's Primary Colours. The past continues to be the focus in Cat's Eyes, Badwan's collaborative project with Canadian opera singer and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira. The pair create gauzy reminiscences of 1950s and 60s pop, while their videos and visual design, handled by famed filmographer Chris Cunningham, resembles the flickering glow of a damaged, ancient TV set. Even Cat's Eyes' first show took place in a particularly old-world venue: St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City. Leading up to the duo's self-titled debut LP, Badwan cited Joe Meek, Phil Spector, and the film Dirty Dancing as sources of inspiration; there are merely strains of those influences throughout Cat's Eyes. Instead, Badwan and Zeffira have created an enjoyably sinister, richly atmospheric backdrop for their soft-focus pop fragments. The influence of Portishead's Geoff Barrow producing Primary Colours continues to bear fruit, as the intense claustrophobia that marked Portishead's 2008 comeback Third similarly colors these proceedings. The death-march horns in "Bandit" suggest that the badly behaved lover in question is more of a murderer than a philanderer; when the infamous opening rhythm to the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" finally appears in the kiss-off "Not a Friend", it sounds not like a heartbeat, but a pair of feet, trying to get the hell out of town. Zeffira sounds like she's already gone, though: She maintains her distance throughout Cat's Eyes. Any hint of her operatic training has been wiped clean and replaced with a delivery that rarely breaks past a coolly delivered sing-chant. Initially, the choice not to exercise what's a fairly unique ability comes off as a bit strange; you'd think that she would want to see how at least one of these songs would sound in her full-throated soprano. As it turns out, though, Zeffira's vocal stylistic departure is a solid fit, emphasizing the damaged loneliness captured on the record. She floats over these songs, dropping quiet bombs on "Best Person I Know" and adding weariness to the brassy proclamations of "Over You". At times, her voice is reminiscent of late Broadcast member Trish Keenan in vocal tone and enunciation, adding an occasionally eerie feel to Cat's Eyes....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| They say a leopard can’t change its spots. Keeping that in mind, consider the following proposition. Take Faris Badwan from The Horrors, an opera singer named Rachel Zeffira, and the desire to make warped girl-group pop. Then throw in a multi-instrumentalist, a performance in the Vatican, and a dose of psychedelia, and you’ve got Cat’s Eyes. It’s almost too surreal to be true. In fact, it’s hard to tell whether or not the entire project is in jest, especially considering the fact that half of the songs are gold, and the rest, well, are not. Cat’s Eyes begins with a psychedelic, 60′s-indebted call-and-response duet of the same name. The distortion and reverb swirl, and the combination of Badwan’s growl and Zeffira’s soaring voice works together well to create a creepy, weirdly entrancing soundscape. The album’s strengths are warped, poppy songs like these, notably the anthemic “Over You” and “Face in the Crowd”. Another high point of Cat’s Eyes is undoubtedly “I’m Not Stupid”, a string-laden track with Zeffira’s mournful lyrics soaring over classic girl group “oohs” and “ahhs.” The slower tempo contrasts the album’s other strong tracks but maintains the pop sensibilities that allow it to continue in the best possible direction. Unfortunately, there are as many lows as there are highs on this debut. It’s difficult to tell what Badwan was trying to accomplish on tracks such as “Bandit” and “Sooner or Later”, one attempting to integrate horns and the other featuring lethargic moaning over sinister noises and drums. Both tracks abandon the sonic aesthetics that make other parts of the album so enjoyable. That being said, Cat’s Eyes is a side-project worth looking into, because what it lacks in continuity and coherence it makes up for with some stellar pop songs and the general intrigue of such an absurd concept....full text |
Cat's Eyes lyrics
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