Now here is a lesson for all you aspiring pop bands out there. The old cliché ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try try again’ really does ring true sometimes. Case in point: top Finnish exports Cats on Fire. The band humbly sent us a demo several years ago which we promptly ignored. A little while later, one of the fantastic Matinée popstars came to Santa Barbara for a visit (was it Mark Monnone of The Lucksmiths? Gregory Webster of Sportique?) and as we like to do when such an event happens, we pulled out the box of recent demos for a little jukebox jury. We had an elaborate ratings system which didn’t really matter at first because the first few bands all received something pretty close to zero points. Eventually I pulled out the demo from Cats on Fire and within a few minutes the bar had been set for that particular evening’s jukebox jury. They were glorious! I scrambled to figure out just how long I had neglected to contact these geniuses and promptly sent off an email to offer my apologies. As luck would have it, the band had just agreed to release the songs from the demo with the newly established Swedish label Fraction Discs. Knowing Jorgen from Fraction Discs for awhile at that point (he interviewed me for one of the issues of his magnificent ‘Try Happiness’ fanzine a few years earlier), I told the band they were in good hands and we agreed to stay in touch. The ‘Draw In The Reins’ EP was released a few months later without a Matinée logo.
Fast forward to late 2006, when we were offered a second chance to work with the band courtesy of their new German record label Marsh-Marigold. Now I go way back with Oliver from Marsh-Marigold, as I used to run a little pop mailorder here in the US called Roundabout Records and helped to distribute the brilliant Marsh-Marigold catalog to people all over the world starting in 1996. Marsh-Marigold were preparing to release the debut Cats on Fire album ‘The Province Complains’ and Oliver wrote to ask if we would like to co-release it. He sent me the songs which were even better than the high points from their previous demo. Unfortunately, this occurred 48 hours before my wife was scheduled to deliver our second baby Nicholas and 24 hours before we started demolition of part of our house to make an addition. As much as I wanted to say yes, I had to say no to the offer knowing that the next few months of my life would not be the best time to start working with a new band. ‘The Province Complains’ was released a few months later without a Matinée logo.
Fast forward once again, our house addition is complete and young Nicholas is now two. He dances around the kitchen on a regular basis with his older brother Alexander to Cats on Fire classics like ‘Born Again Christian’ and ‘The Smell of an Artist.’ As fate would have it, the band were recording again and working with Finnish label Johanna Kustannus on a new album entitled ‘Our Temperance Movement.’ When the request came in for us to release it here in the States, we knew what we had to do so Cats on Fire are members of the Matinée roster at last!
The new album ‘Our Temperance Movement’ (matcd052) is at the pressing plant now and should be in our hands in a few short weeks complete with Matinée logo. Just as the debut album was a step up from the demo, the new album is even better still with 10 new Cats on Fire classics: 1. Horoscope; 2. Lay Down Your Arms; 3. Letters From A Voyage To Sweden; 4. Never Sell The House; 5. The Steady Pace; 6. Tears In Your Cup; 7. Garden Lights; 8. The Borders Of This Land; 9. Our Days In The Sun; 10. Fabric.
We are featuring three tracks on the Matinée catalog page and rotating songs on the sounds page and also over on MySpace. The album is scheduled for release early next month but we are taking preorders RIGHT NOW on the Matinée website and will ship copies as soon as they are back from the pressing plant. In the meantime, enjoy the preview tracks and reserve your copy now on the order page. Hurrah for persistence!