The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 19, 1997 - 9

Catherine Wheel to hit St.
Andrew's with 'Adam & Eve'

By Colin Bartos
Daily Arts Writer
Since 1991, Catherine Wheel's Rob
Dickinson, Brian Futter, Dave Hawes
and Neil Sims have quietly made it
their business to be the rightful kings
of England's many-faceted music
scene.
Now, six years
and five albums R
later, the
Catherine Wheel Cat
is here to claim its ''
crown, speaking
volumes through
its newest effort,
"Adam & Eve,"
which undoubtedly puts every
English album and group you've
heard in the last decade to absolute
shame.
Catherine Wheel has always had
something different to offer, right from
the beginning. In 1992, when
Catherine Wheel debuted its first full-
length player, "Ferment," it made small
waves.
Here was a band who, in the midst
of the grunge revolution, made a
mark with a fresh, layered, textured
sound unlike anything else stateside
or in the band's home country across
the ocean.
The majestic wall of noise coupled
with hushed intensity and the spine-
tingling
vocals of Rob
Dickinson
created a
name for CW
with the
undergroundV
hit "Black4
which is still a'
show-stopping
live staple of
the band.
This was no°
three-chord
simple pop Catherine Wheel
band with a
distortion
pedal and nothing to say, although it
seemed like many listeners were
missing out completely.
Where most bands at the time were
creating three-minute bursts of blah,
CW had a different way of operating,
as guitarist Brian Futter explained in
a phone interview with The Michigan
Daily. "When we first started with
'Ferment,' our philosophy was, if an
intro was three minutes long, it's three
minutes long," said Futter. "It doesn't
matter."
Despite only critical success,
Catherine Wheel stuck to its ideals and

released "Chrome" in 1993, which
made slightly bigger waves with the tri-
umphant rocker "Crank," the beautiful
"The Nude" and energetic "Show Me
Mary."
Here, the band's sound had
changed, but only for the better. 1995
brought "Happy Days," a total depar-


REVIEW
herine Wheel
Sunday night at 8


ture for CW in the
fact that it was
playing hard, and
much of the ambi-
ent imagery was
lost behind the
blinding guitars of
songs like
"Waydown" and

St. Andrew's Hail
Call (810) 645-6666

"My Exhibition."
The fruits only continued to multiply,
though, and soon, it seemed, someone
would have to notice.
Last year's collection of B-sides,
"Like Cats And Dogs," turned more
heads, and with the inclusion of the
cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were
Here,' the band recaptured its destiny to
be the next Pink Floyd. Now, the cycle
is complete with CW's latest effort,
"Adam & Eve."
"This is the one I'm proudest of,"
said Futter. "We took a year to basi-
cally just rehearse and write every-
thing we had, just for the sheer fact
we wanted a complete record this
time.
"'H a p p y
Days' was a
disparate col-
lection of
songs. I'm not
ashamed of the
record in any
way ... there
were some
mistakes made
on ('Happy
Days') and it
was time on
('Adam &
Eve') to get it
right."
The album
brings the
group closer to the violent whisper it
started out as, while showcasing just
how incredibly far it has come.
"For this record more than any other
record," Futter added, "the foundations
were laid completely with the sounds
we recorded. We recorded a lot fewer
guitars this time, but the guitars that
were recorded were the right ones as it
were."
"Adam & Eve" marks a pinnacle for
CW and a statement to the world that an
album might not just be about a couple
of singles and some filler.
The album plays like a book, with

each song magically leading into the
next as if the entire CD were thought up
and created in one fell swoop.
It is meant to be listened to from
beginning to end.
"The plan was to have 10 songs,"
Futter said. "(Bob) wanted us to get
running orders together from the
very beginning. It wasn't like,
'We've finished the record, now what
order do they go in?' It was some-
thing that grew organically with the
record."
The Bob who Brian spoke of is none
other than legendary Pink Floyd pro-
ducer Bob Ezrin, who helped produce
"Adam & Eve." Ezrin seemed to help
bring CW back to its roots, so to
speak.
"We're actually coming back to our
original way of thinking and it's that
similarity to Pink Floyd which I think it
is, you know. It's just a natural one"
Futter said.
Because "Adam & Eve" is so cohe-
sive, the band is trying something new
live. "Where we can, we're playing the
whole record," Futter said.
"We're playing the first half and
having a break playing some oldies,
and then doing the backside of the
record. When we listen to the record,
we think it's such a good whole as it
were, it's such a good final whole
complete piece. It's a good opportu-
nity to try and replicate the feel
live?'
As far as success, Catherine Wheel
seems destined for it, but still seems to
be uprooted by English bands of lesser
stature and substance, such as Oasis
and Bush.
It doesn't seem to matter to the band,
though. "The last thing you should do
with any kind of thing like this is start
to get bitter," Futter said.
"I wish (Oasis) luck. I have this
warm glow in me that I know that we're
better than them, but we're different,
you know, and things come full circle"
Fetter continued.
"It's not a great worry. I'm glad that
English bands are starting to do some-
thing in America. I can hum a Bush
song. I feel good. I think our time is
gonna come, you know."
The Catherine Wheel can be
summed up in the meaning behind the
epic "Thunderbird" from "Adam &
Eve."
"How do we feel being eclipsed by
other English bands that probably haven't
got the depth that we've got,' Futter said.
"It's just a reflection of that. The power
that's behind us, sooner or later it's gonna
come out." Take that, Oasis.
I~ a"

Catherine Wheel brings its groove to St. Andrew's this Sunday night.

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DESTROY
THE

PRESENTS
A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING OF

COMPETITION
WITH YOUR
MIND!

Morrissey's limited vocal dehy-
ery and Ian Curtis' seemingly PLAY
unaffected monotone for
Montgomery's infinitely prettier COLLEGE BOWL 4
voice. But is this music for the
jilted generation? 1M
Geneva's distinctive brand of
music will be showcased as Just fill out a registration form at UAC -
openers for Catherine Wheel.
Catherine Wheel fans may either 4002 Michigan Union. The cost is $24-team,
be intrigued or dismayedby the or $7 for an individual. The registration
bittersweet songs of Geneva, but deadline is Monday, September 22nd at 5:00.
Montgomery put it best when T he first round of games is
jests, "It's the common language 23rd
of rock! I have great faith in it.
Doctor Rock has bit me!" questions? Call 763-1107
University Activities
Centeror email mac.info@umich.edu.
Cete

The University of Michigan

H(

)CKEY
BAND