4 out of 5

Produced by: Polar Goldie Cats, Rod Cervera

Label: Up

I hate saying this, but if you’ve heard one PGC album, you’ve sort of heard them all.  For over a decade – and, at this point, five albums – the group has been delivering catly-named (‘Maowist’) 4 or 5 minute jams where the bass maintains a steady tom-tom, the bass bounces alongside with some groove, and the guitar settles on a high note / low note alternating riff for a few bars before shifting pitch and the setup repeating.  I can’t imagine it being bad for anyone, although the steady pace and repetitive structure might trigger annoyance in some.  But for those to whom the gist appeals – and you’ll know a few minutes in – it’s the slightest variations to the PGC scheme which we can revel.  In the same way that U.S. Maple explored rock by totally destroying it, the Cats explore relative intensities via the subtle shifts they make during any given song.

Nonetheless, Feral is still slightly hampered by the limitations of the style: That a couple of songs are going to sound damned similar, and that longer tracks maybe go through their paces one or two times more than necessary.  But the worst that happens from this is that you’re attention wanders slightly; once you’ve paced the disc and you know where it ebbs and flows, those moments don’t bore – they coast you to the next “big” moment.

And those moments are particularly noteworthy on the album.  Rod Cervera’s sparse production perfectly underscores the group’s minimalism, offering enough precision such that the turns – the sudden riffage on the concluding title track; the effects applied to Bear Nacht; the final passage amp-up tracks like Mewest or Cat Nest build to – feel perfectly in sync with the more low key points.  There’s even a damned delicate track on here – Mrs. Owl – that proves more than ever how in control these guys are of their style.

Feral is by no means a surprising offering from PGC but it is an incredibly strong one thanks to all the minor touches we followers adore.