Critics never could determine which end of the spectrum the Catherine Wheel fell into: were they epic alt-rockers or were they noisy shoegazers? That refusal, on the band’s part, to court any one genre within their sound is exactly what makes their music so gratifying for me; just when you think you have their influences all figured out, they’ll throw a song your way that you never saw coming. This particular track, off of their debut full length, reveals an obvious love for the Cure along with the usual suspects like My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus & Mary Chain. For many Americans, the Catherine Wheel and basically everything else going on in the alternative rock world sort of faded away while Nirvana and the “grunge” fad ruled the roost, but looking back now this stuff has aged better than the vast majority of Seattle’s slacker brigade.
