Labels: Fat Cat Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
For a short while, this record label sent us freebies. I suspect that they quickly wised up to the fact that:
a) i don’t have a clue
b) no-one pays heed to what i write
So they stopped. Heck. But I bought this one anyway, in a fit of random record purchasing. And ooh-yeah, it’s a bit of a dandy. Party of One play a lo-fi form of indie rock, the first song is full of squelchy guitars and untamed energy. Melodic and mid-paced rockery that is done really well. I can’t say it particularly reminds me of anyone, apart from Party of Helicopters gone lo-fi, and that is a pretty good comparison yeah? The guitar work isn’t quite so mentalistically complex, but things buzz along quite joyously.
There is a song on the flip side where they rock out less and play a simple, stripped down indie tune with acoustic guitar and harmonies. Plus an oboe? Very pleasant.
I must mention that this record contains a piece of card with Fat Cat Records stance on a few things. I was pretty fucking impressed – Very pro DIY. Indie rock has mostly fallen foul of becoming a subset of the record industry (and hardcore is right on it’s tail), but Fat Cat totally turn that idea on it’s head here. Nice one.