Fantastic Cat – Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat (2024)

Review: Fantastic Cat, The Traveling Wilburys of smart indie pop, are back with the follow-up to their stellar 2022 debut. The band is comprised of Brian Dunne, Anthony D’Amato, Don DiLego, and Mike Montali all taking turns at the mic. Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat builds on The Very Best Of Fantastic Cat for an even more impressive album. It started as a side project (and an excuse to wear cat masks), but the band took the songs on tour and seem to have rolled back into the studio losing none of the momentum. The band’s first single, “All My Fault,” has a solid “Me & Julio” vibe to it, but elsewhere, the band tips into Americana and folk at times. Quoting the band collective about this song specifically, they explain, “This project started as an escape from all the self-seriousness of the music business, and this song in particular takes the piss out of the ego and delusion that goes with it.” That’s not to say the music here is goofy. “Later On,” boasting remarkable harmonies, is at its core a very sweet love song, while the gospel-tinged “Sometimes Your Heros Let You Down” is a beautifully relatable track (It’s probably not about Springsteen’s aggressively greedy, Ticketmaster-inspired cash grab gouging longtime fans for more than $1,000 per ticket. But then again it may be). “Oh Man,” the opening track, is part ELO and part Tom Petty while the closing track, “Head Down, Shots Fired,” sounds like The Eagles if they ever bothered to write a hit song (shots fired). Based on Fantastic Cat lore shared by their publicist (so you know it’s true), this was the record that almost wasn’t as ‘the band nearly ended as each member also individually (but at separate times) faced devastating heartbreak, went to jail, got sober, almost quit music entirely… reconciled their progressive, liberal ways with their strict, conservative upbringing, and embraced the raw power of their sexuality.’ Nailing the press release bingo card while also tuning in a follow-up that was better than its predecessor. You’d be crazy not to pick this one up. Not to say the band should avoid their solo careers (Dunne’s Loser On The Ropes was one of the best albums released last year), but can we at least get a few more records from this super group before they go full second act Behind The Music? — glidemagazine.com

Track List: 01 - Oh Man! 02 - Little Bit Broken 03 - Later On 04 - So Glad You Made It 05 - The Hammer & The Nail 06 - I Don't Know Why 07 - Go All Night 08 - Edinburgh 09 - Sometimes Your Heroes Let You Down 10 - All My Fault 11 - Head Down, Shots Fired 12 - Legal Disclaimer

Media Report: Genre: americana, indie-pop, rock Origin: New York, New York, USA
Format: FLAC Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec Bit rate mode: Variable Channel(s): 2 channels Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz Bit depth: 16 bits Compression mode: Lossless Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)

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