The Big Cats
On break from their more lauded day jobs [Green Day, The Stills, Dan Zanes], the Big Cats scratched away enough time through the course of 2006 to finally make a proper album. With eleven acoustic demos, the band holed up in a Sunday school room in downtown Little Rock. The songs, as they ended up here, On Tomorrow, strike with a very real sense of honesty, bombast and skill.
Then there’s the plot - call it a loose knit, early 30s tale unfolding from the corners. You can hear it in the single “Little Windows” and then later, in the mid-tempo chorus of “Minor Decay”. Finally, down in the mix, just before it’s quieted out altogether, you find “Man Of Leisure”. By most appearances an odd arrangement, it swings, staggers, and then opens up yielding the band’s strongest refrain to date. It’s the sound of the Big Cats at a genuine peak.
Press:
“When the Big Cats make rock and roll, they cut one hell of a figure.” - Dry Ink
"On Tomorrow finds the Big Cats a bit older and wiser. Still present are hard-hitting, guitar-driven beats, but, this time, Taggart's gentle vocals smooth it out into a moody mix of blissful pop and slightly rough-around-the-edges rock." - Nicole Boddington / Little Rock Free Press
"There are, believe it or not, Little Rock bands not named Evanescence that make great rock music. The Big Cats have a particularly clean and articulate approach.
In case “clean” and “articulate” sound like insults to you, substitute words like “tighter,” as well as “moremelodious” and “less sludgy” or “not gothic” and you might get the picture. It’s pop. Maybe if you ever heard Big Star or The dB’s or even The Replacements, or the more obscure yet joyous Shoes, you can get a sense of how good these Big Cats sound.
One really admires an enterprising young businessman/musician like Burt Taggart, who I envision cajoling his Big Cats cohorts to drop by town every now and then for a recording session. Drummer Colin Brooks is part of Grammy winner Dan Zanes’ band. Guitarist Jason White is the fourth member of Green Day. Luckily for all concerned, Taggart operates his own label, Max Recordings, and he must know what he’s doing, since the sound quality here is unsurpassed, thanks to Barry Poynter’s studio, Poynter’s Palace.
I just can’t get enough of the band’s song, “Man of Leisure,” although “Country Lanes” certainly is evocative and a winner in its own right. I can’t find any weak sisters in this 11-song collection.
For a group of guys who only get together a time or two each year, due to coast-to-coast careers for some of them, these four seem to have an instinctual feel for the vibe they’re seeking, and the music is intelligent enough that the more you hear it, themore you appreciate it. This is the kind of stuff you can go around singing to yourself, you know, when no one is looking.
The Big Cats deserve discovery by a wider audience. But would it ruin them? Or would they prefer to be a great act instead of a famous act? Stay tuned. - Jack Hill / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"The follow-up to Worrisome Blues has the Big Cats dedicating the record to Shannon Yarbrough, and he would be quite proud of this release." - Pop Matters
"This kind of low-key, earnest jangle pop is timeless." - Stewart Mason / All Music Guide
"Rock and Roll Nitemare," the opening track by Little Rock’s resurgent The Big Cats, takes decades-old rock tricks — handclaps, Chuck Berryish guitar breaks, propulsive drumming — reshuffles them and makes you believe all over again. A foursome now reformed back in Arkansas after years in other cities and other bands, the Cats display a weariness or resignation in lyrics and tone that’s refreshing in this otherwise robust rock context. Credit part of that to Burt Taggert’s evocative, controlled vocals. This doesn’t mean the guitars don’t ring out when required (love the opening salvo of "Runaway") or step back when the Cats want more mood than speed. A few tempo shifts don’t convince, but there’s at least six or seven highlights here that would sound great on any radio or home hi-fi. Here’s a reunion that clearly worked out for the best. - Werner Trieschmann / Arkansas Democrat Gazette
"Hidden inside this screened digipack, The Big Cats get caught up with a rich and explosive music. A music which is quite eager to point out the albums rock' n roll elements. The Big Cats even pull out a bit of a bluesy side that works to establish their own style which on "Fayetteville Blues" becomes honestly explosive. While on songs such as "Runaway", "Elanita" and "Doomed To Lose" The Big Cats seem comfortable sticking to a more tried and true indie rock approach. Nothing is left uncovered, all is to be discovered here. Fans of productions complete and fulfilling, this disc is for you." - Underground Society
With a slightly rough-edged country rock sound, hinting at influences of punk and indie rock, The Big Cats come from Little Rock to JR's Lightbulb Club on Saturday night for a highly anticipated show. With their amazing hit single, "Fayetteville Blues," floating around since the summer, the complete album Worrisome Blues is now out and available at Clunk Records. The Big Cats clean pop lyrics on such songs as "Run Away," the nice accordion touch on "Elanita," and the need evident in the voices of singers Burt Taggart and the late Shannon Yarbrough on "Route 66" all make for a solid, if not short, record, leaving you wanting more. - Su Lauren Perry / Fayetteville Free Weekly
Do the Big Cats want to replace the Replacements? That’s a thought that comes over sometimes while listening to Worrisome Blues, their new album. It all comes about when you hear a bit of slop and a lot of rough on top of a folky take on the Stones. But the punk “Runaway” shows that the Big Cats are ready to go their own way. The guitar interplay is solid, and all of their fast stuff is good for dancing. The foreboding “Route 66,” though, is not the Bobby Troupe classic. But you'll get your kicks anyway. — T.E. Lyons / Louisville Eccentric Observer
© 2010 Max Recordings
