Another great, underrated band
race_of_doom | USA | 02/15/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Miaow was one of the somewhat famous C86 bands from the eighties. Except for a couple compliation tracks and a single ("When It All Comes Down") released on the Factory label, nothing else was released.Cath Carroll was the leader of this band. Mark Robinson, former Unrest (and current Flin Flon) member, had a somewhat odd crush on her. He dedicated a song to her (aptly named "Cath Carroll") and put a picture of her on Unrest's "Perfect Teeth" cover.He begged her to do a single or something for his Teenbeat label (a good label, by the way), and she eventually caved in after awhile. Soon after the single, she released a solo record, also on Teenbeat.Was Cath Carroll really all that great? Well, thanks to LTM (whoever they are), we can finally find out.The most notable thing about this collection is the quality of the songs -- and seeing how most of them have never seen the light of day until now, it's kind of weird. One wonders why exactly. "Fate" is particularly catchy, with a lovely, stuttering lead vocal weaving through awesome keyboard flourishes. Other standouts include "Grocer's Devil's Daughter," "Did She?" and "Sport Most Royal."But nothing, and I mean nothing, tops the wonderfulness that is "When It All Comes Down." Both versions on here are simply amazing -- particularly the extended "Catechism" mix. It exemplifies all the great things about the original version greatly, creating an incredibly satisfying experience.Not all the tracks are as great, but there's more than enough material here to justify a reasonable purchase. If you like danceable post-punk/pretty jangle pop, you should be more than happy with this release."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1