The Catburgers

Dug up after 40 years adrift, the world finally gets a chance to tuck into a full and formal collection from Scottish band The Catburgers. The band formed in Edinburgh in 1985, inspired by their love of The Television Personalities and an growing trend towards DIY pop that spread from Sarah to Postcard and Subway to Creation. The band deepened their connection to TVP with the promise of a single set for the band’s imprint Dreamworld, but sadly the release was never to materialize. Not without the band’s trying; the songs from those sessions have been something of indie pop lore for years, with a few cropping up on a 7” from FELT in 2022. Galashiels, however, remains the most expansive document of the band, a proper send up of the band’s driving, jangle-led sound that’s as infectious as it is exuberant.

Given the crisp quality of the songs on display here, its almost inconceivable that the band wasn’t scooped up and sent out via Flexi to every corner of the DIY world. With a fizz fixed to the amps and huge strums hung with hooks ’n harmonies, the band vaults through the first half of the collection in pop pinwheels. A few clouds gather over the last few tracks, but the band never tumbles into gloom. Instead they pin on a few post-punk touches, taking a natural swerve along their five year tumble before they broke in 1990. Galashiels is a fitting document of the band, and pretty cohesive collection that stands along any current Slumberland release with jangle bonafides. Very nice to have these tracks dug up, dusted off and made ready. It’s a shame for those of us who missed The Catburgers in their day, but four decades on, the archive is hits just as hard as the original run.

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