New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Brighton four-piece Wild Cat
Strike are pleased to announce that they will release their forthcoming new EP,
Mustard Coloured Years, on 17th April 2020 via Small Pond Records.
Commenting on the single, bassist Chris Whitehorn says: "Mustard is a 2020 take on a 1950s waltz. We recorded at Echo Zoo, Eastbourne (UK) where the word around the campfire is that the mixing desk once belonged to Tony Visconti, who had recorded
David Bowie with it. We tracked in the room together to keep the feel of how we play it live, then overdubbed guitars and a sumptuous selection of 70s synths. Later we added vocal harmonies (by our label mates Bonniesongs and
Natalie Evans, and our mates from Tall Ships and I Feel Fine) to give us that sea shanty singalong sound."
"Mustard can be quite a divisive colour," continues vocalist
Danny Byrom, "whether it's on some wallpaper or a suit shirt. And our thoughts can be both tasteless and inspired, dependent on context. Just like a pair of mustard-coloured corduroy trousers."
The band recently announced a run of spring 2020 UK/EU headline tour dates in support of the record, with further live dates TBA (see below for full listings).
Featuring the previously-released single 'Toothcutter'—a track about self-fulfilling prophecies, the notion of destiny, and accepting your struggles as just being part of the bigger picture—Mustard Coloured Years is another accomplished step in the right direction for this slow-burning, soulful Brighton quartet. Recorded and mixed by former drummer Joe Caple and mastered by Liam McMillan (Small Pond), sessions for the record took place at Echo Zoo, Eastbourne (as used by
Paul McCartney and, um, Toploader...) between February and April 2019.
Thematically, the
Mustard Coloured Years EP carries on where their debut album Rhubarb Nostalgia finished—the closing line of which ("I can't complain") being the opening line of the new EP. "For me this works as a p.s at the end of a letter," says Byrom of the record, "the stories not yet fully told. Lyrically it has similar themes—the grand narratives in life. I think it's hard to avoid."
"I like to find unique analogies that haven't been found, but once heard they seem like they have always existed; the loud wallpaper in a quiet room, traffic jams bringing in a red brake-light-coloured sunset, the night disguising the roads as strips of liquorice, wondering who tamed the carousel horses, a cherry branch in at random signifying good luck, the easiest thing to do being to learn the hard way, trying no to worry where you are going to sleep at the end of the day knowing that heaven's always got a spare room; just in case..."
Prior to the new singles, the band most recently released their The Blood
Orange Sessions EP (2019), featuring exclusive live sessions, reimaginings, and alternate versions of tracks from their full-length debut Rhubarb Nostalgia. Channelling their gleeful sense of cacophony and flair for sonic abrasion into an engrossing record of off-kilter indie pop songs that hooked hard on the heartstrings as they crisscross in and out of chaos, the EP was a beautifully packaged treat that showed a softer and more introspective side to their diverse, chameleonic indie pop.
To date the foursome have enjoyed radio support from the BBC
Radio 1 Rock Show and Radcliffe & Maconie at BBC 6Music, with early press coverage from CLASH, Louder Than War, DORK, God Is In The TV Zine, Echoes & Dust and many more. Over the past few years they've slowly but surely developed their formidable sound via a relentless slew of live shows including sets at ArcTanGent, 2000 Trees, Y Not Festival, and Bad Pond Festival, and tour dates with The Xcerts, Delta Sleep, Tigercub, LIRR,
Natalie Evans, I Feel Fine, and more.
Mustard Coloured Years is released 17th April 2020 via Small Pond Records
WILD CAT STRIKE live dates:
29.03.20 - Brighton - BSM Popup (UK)
16.04.20 - London - Sebright Arms (UK)
17.04.20 - Bristol - Mothers' Ruin (UK)
18.04.20 - Guildford - The Boiler Room (UK)
23.04.20 - Brighton - The Hope & Ruin (UK)
24.04.20 - Nottingham - JT Soar (UK)
25.04.20 - Kent - Lighthouse (UK)
28.04.20 - Malmo -
Plan B (SWE)
29.04.20 - Uppsala - Ungdomens Hus (SWE)
30.04.20 - Uppsala - Ungdomens Hus (SWE)
01.05.20 - Gothenburg - Studio HPKSM (SWE)
03.05.20 - Utrecht - Studio Patrick (NL)
16.05.20 - Brighton - Alternative Escape (UK)
Wild Cat
Strike are:
Max Boughen - guitar, piano, synth, vocals
Danny Byrom - vocals, guitar, piano, synth, Rhodes
Chris Whitehorn - bass, Rhodes, synth vocals
Joe Caple - drums, synth, vocals
Wild Cat
Strike online:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/wildcatstrike
https://soundcloud.com/wild-cat-strike
https://youtube.com/wildcatstrikeband
https://twitter.com/Wild_Cat_Strike
https://instagram.com/wildcatstrikeband/
