POST NO. 34: A TRAILER PARK IN MISSOURI

Sorry that I've been out of commission the past week. The tooth problem is resolved, and hard food can be consumed once again. I'll be busy this week, too, trying to get a new community radio station on the air. But I hope to make at least a couple posts, including this one. While I'm apologizing, I should also admit that I probably write too often about bands from the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar stable. But fuck, they do have a good number of exciting bands under contract: Antony & the Johnsons, Jens Lekman, Magnolia Electric Co., Richard Swift, Black Mountain, Oneida, Nagisa Ni Te, Okkervil River, and Richard Youngs to name a few. The A&R guy over there should get a gold star. Plus, Secretly Canadian also reissued those Swell Maps albums this year.

Well, add another log on the fire: Chicago's Catfish Haven. I know...that doesn't sound like something you'd care to listen to, right? Catfish Haven is probably named for a trailer park in Missouri and grew up worshiping Joe Cocker. Well, you're right (at least on the trailer park end of things). Keep reading, though. It gets better. The trio consists the strong-armed strumming of acoustic guitarist/vocalist George Hunter, the paint-by-numbers bass work of Miguel Castillo, and the ample drumming of Ryan Farnham. Tis nothing fancy by Yes standards, but collectively this group's sound just fits snuggly together like a 12-pack of Milwaukee's Best. To continue the beer comparison, Catfish Haven are hardly the Tucher of beers, but you don't need to flavor them with an orange slice to enjoy them, either. Rudimentary rock & soul is too generic, but that's the best quick descrip that I can come up with.

They've released just an EP, Good Friends, but have plans for another 7-song EP in January followed by a full-length in the spring. I just caught them in concert last week and was completely floored by how much the band's sound has progressed since their debut EP, and how consuming they are in person. That's not to belittle their recording -- which as you'll hear shortly is fantastic -- but some bands simply are LIVE bands first and foremost. Not just because I could see that the singer wears a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots falling apart at the sole and pulls his shoulder-length hair back in a pony tail, but because they own the stage while they're on it. Like Sam Cooke (in Harlem, not at the Copa) as channeled through the Silver Bullet Band, Catfish Haven just oozed energy and blue collar soul. It takes guts to play this kind of music for unassuming indie rock snobs, and to pull it off convincingly. The only modern band I can think of that's attempting something similar (if somewhat more chic) is Spoon.

Turn it up! Way up!!

Catfish Haven - "Please Come Back"

See them on the web or definitely catch them live this month if you're lucky enough to live in Oskgosh, NYC, New Haven, Detroit, Cleveland, or Chicago. And if you live in Champaign-Urbana, join me in pleading with the local promoters to bring them back, now!