THE DAMNCATS – LIGHTS GO DOWN

The influence of Pete Doherty and his former band, The Libertines, shows no sign of abating. Neither does that of The Arctic Monkeys. These two bands have left such an indelible mark on British pop music you’d have to make a real effort to avoid hearing something that sounded like one or both of them in the course of your day.

It’s not such a bad thing. We’ve been there time and time again with the likes of Oasis, Blur, Nirvana, The Smiths, The Sex Pistols, The Kinks and, of course, The Beatles. Currently, when bands aren’t being Doherty or Turner and co., they are doing their level best to be the new Mumford and Sons. No doubt other zeitgeist leaders will follow. It’s the way of things.

Despite their protests to the contrary, The DamnCats haven’t quite reached the stage where they have ‘redefine[d] the traditional indie band’ as is claimed on their Facebook page. They’re undoubtedly a four piece in the Arctic Monkeys/Libertines mould.

The DamnCats’ song “Liberation” (there’s a clue of a musical influence in there somewhere) is a case in point: all swaggering tunes, distorted guitars and snarly vocals. You’ll also find traces of Doherty and/or Turner in “Made Up Minds” which also comes with some fine offbeats and a nod in the direction of Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows”.

These songs, as you might expect, come with a certain bombast: the hedonism of “Liberation” and the stubbornness of “Made Up Minds” (“there’s no change in made up minds”).

Elsewhere, you’ll find traces of The Strokes in “4am” when Savannah Sylken Smith” takes over the vocals from Martin Jackson. Here though, the mood turns to something a little more reflective: a telephoned plea for help fighting personal demons in the dead of night.

But it’s in “Choke”, another song fronted by Savannah Sylken Smith, where the band truly shines. Where “4am” is a cry for help, “Choke” is a despondent sob of desperation: “please don’t go”.

While many bands have a song on this theme somewhere in their repertoire, very few of them convince. But “Choke” convinces absolutely. It’s a song sung from absolute pain and anguish: “please don’t know that I’m a waster, a breaker of promises”.

The song is a devastatingly open admission of feelings of self-hatred and misery. A far cry from the machismo and bluster of their other songs, “Choke” is the track to listen to.

Over the course of four songs, The DamnCats have proved themselves as jacks of the indie trade: masters and mistress of the sad song one.

Find out more about The DamnCats on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheDamnCats?ref=ts