Catherine Wheel

Happy Days (Fontant/Mercury)
by Joshua Brown

The second major British band to be named after a medieval torture device and have a falsettoed-out frontman with surname Dickinson (the first band sporting the initials I.M.), Catherine Wheel can now count themselves among the few and proud rock groups to have actually changed their sound for the better. Gone are the gray old days of shoegazer pop; say hello to ballsy, impassioned, not-too-self-absorbed, straight-ahead rock. When I first picked up the CD, I was expecting a bunch of filler to go along with the hit MTV single, “Way Down,” but was surprised to find out that every song is as good or better. From the organ-laden psychedelia of the self-explanatory “Eat My Dust, You Insensitive Fuck” to the grinding sexual romp of “Little Muscle” (about the guy’s tongue), it’s an exceptional listen throughout.

Happy Days should put Catherine Wheel head and shoulders above the competition, if not in sales, at least in quality.