The Amcats

2008 EP Go Amcats Go!

Reviewed by Stu Wright

13 March 2008

Ok, let’s hit the nail right on the head. If you like the White Stripes, you are going to LOVE this. This is two piece heavy garage blues from start to finish, which will probably polarize some of the listening audience, but more on that later…underneath the very obvious influences there are some great tunes on here.

‘The Amcats’ are a garage blues duo from Adelaide, gigging around the local traps since mid 2007, and in that time they have built a loyal following around the Adelaide scene. ‘Go Amcats Go’ is their debut E.P., and was co-produced and engineered by Matt Hills, who if you don’t know is of ‘Wolf & Cub’ fame.

These are some of The Amcats own words: ‘We started in a backyard shed, shelling out endless covers of predecessors from the Mississippi delta (Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy and Sonny Boy Williamson), British Invasion (John Mayall, t-rex, Rolling Stones), and the present day (Black Keys, Mint Chicks, White Stripes, Pop Levi)’. Diverse Influences indeed and there’s no doubt that Shane’s writing and riffing is blues based in origin, and technically sound at that. In addition, Renee plays solid drums and percussion throughout this recording.

Track 1 ‘Why Don’t You Talk Like I Walk’ is fast and to the point, and at 1:18 is over before it starts. Good, raw stuff though. ‘Overtime’, the second cut from this E.P., has very much the sound and production value of nearly any cut from Nirvana’s ‘Bleach’, before going to another tangent which, on a point that I can’t get past, is too close to the White Stripes for my personal comfort. Not that this is a bad thing, but when drums, guitar and vocals all are derivative of a certain influence, it can become obvious. This is most evident on ‘New Years Day’, which at times is extremely derivative of the White Stripes ‘Death Letter’

‘Bea Kaye’ takes a slightly different route, showing some alternate rock influence ala t-rex etc., but it still has the overriding feel of a tribute band as opposed to passionate, original material. ‘When I Wake Up’ carries on in the same vein, before rounding out the release with the Sixth Track ‘Down Below’.

Don’t get me wrong, ‘The Amcats’ E.P. is GOOD; there’s some good solid garage blues rock on here; it’s just unfortunate that it’s been done before.

’The Amcats’ write well, and one can definitely hear the potential for future releases based on this E.P., however they will need to leave their very blatant White Stripes influences behind if they want to leave an individual mark and reach their full potential as a band. A good release, and if you like this style of music check it out, but for the definitive sound check out the White Stripes ‘Elephant’ or ‘White Blood Cells’ and get the full story…

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The Amcats