Influenced by Mississippi Delta blues musicians such as Fred McDowell, John Hurt and Son House, catl’s sound is pure floor-stomping juke-joint blues.
Toronto-based catl is joined by Andrew Moszynski on drums and Sarah Kirkpatrick on organ, percussion and vocals. Combined they bring years of punk-influenced rock ‘n’ roll to their music (catl in Pecola; Andrew in The Deadly Snakes and Quest For Fire, Sarah in Shitt Hottt), and their music has been described as everything from "dirt blues" to "swamp boogie" to scuzz blues."
They played shows from Montreal to Windsor, won the Toronto Blue’s Society’s annual talent search and played NXNE, Pop Montreal and the Southside Shuffle Blues Festival as well as their monthly residency at Toronto's Dakota Tavern. On top of that, they travelled to Detroit’s Ghetto Recorders to record their sophomore album "With the Lord for cowards you will find no place" with legendary producer Jim Diamond.
This summer they played with Heavy Trash, Jon Spencer Blues Exlosion and The Gories, also played at the Kitchener Blues Festival and at Elliott Brood's New Year's Eve Party. They were CBC Radio "Q" Friday Live guests to kick off 2011 on January 7 and played a coveted spot at the Montreal Jazz Festival. New album "Soon This Will All Be Gone" due out early 2012.
Here’s what the critics have to say:
When Jon Spencer yelped 'play the blues, punk!' back in 1994, the notion seemed almost blasphemous in an American indie culture still trying to sever ties with rock ’n’ roll’s past. But in a post-White Stripes/Black Keys world, the blues have been deemed a safe haven for grown-up punks who still like to keep it raw and real, but couldn’t give two shits about fleeting hipster fashions. And few are enjoying their second wind quite like local bluesman catl. (a.k.a. ex-Pecola frontman Jamie Fleming) and his skin-beating accomplice Johnny LaRue (formerly of garage-rock marauders The Exploders) — for album number two, the duo have even added multi-instrumentalist/cheerleader Sarah K to better approximate the experience of a joyous, and exceedingly sweaty, Sunday-night juke-joint bender. But being the seasoned vets that they are, catl. and crew know not to show their hand too early: With the Lord for cowards… begins in congenial busker-blues mode (complete with a foot-stompin’ cover of Charley Patton’s “Oh Death”), before introducing some Stonesy swagger (“Church on Time”) and Blues Explosive funk (“Caroline”) and bringing it on home with the slide-geetar grease of “Workin’ Man’s Soul” — the sort of paint-peeling closer that makes you hope whatever venues catl. play next are up to spec on their fire-code regulations. (4-STARS) -- Stuart Berman, EYE WEEKLY 01/14/10
The distance between onstage catl and studio catl is hereby closed. Kirkpatrick adds extra droning menace to "Goin' Home" and gives Fleming an unhinged vocal foil on the snaky "Caroline." Fleming's ragged jams stand up here as proper songs and have a kick hammered home nicely by garage-rock maestro Jim Diamond, who produced half the record. Dirty fun. - Toronto Star
One of the most exciting blues acts on the Toronto scene in years. – NOW
These Torontonians’ rough-hewn scuzz-blues joints and pained acoustic laments make you wanna gulp down a 26er of Wild Turkey, sweat buckets and put your fist through something. Unhinged fun. – Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
A local ragged ‘n’ dirty blues-punk outfit known for throwing hip-swivelling, hell-raising juke-joint jams. Their debut album laces the whiskey-soaked swagger of the deep south with some balls-to-the-wall bite. – eye weekly
I haven't seen them yet myself but I've only heard great things about catl when they tear through their songs on-stage. One listen to their latest album With the Lord for cowards you will find no place suggests that they must be a killer live band; with a musical connection to Charley Patton, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Hot Snakes among others, these songs sound like they were custom-built to melt your face, slap your soul, and rock your socks off. -- Vish Khanna, CBC Radio3 "Track of the Day" 1/11/11
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