THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With Rational Anthems, Hamburg garage-rock wild men Catch As Catch Can present their long-awaited second long-player. It celebrates the contradictions that have long defined the band. This is already reflected in the title: Rationality and pathos are sometimes played off against each other, but then also appear together. Musically as well as in terms of content, CACC play with contrasts and always take turns from one genre to another.
After their first album Regular Vanilla and their last 7″ Ghost In My House, which were still strongly oriented towards good-humoured ’60s rock ’n’ roll and surf, new paths are now being taken. The basic tone is still rough garage punk, which is increasingly complemented by post-punk, contemporary lo-fi rock and even egg punk. Glam-rock can also be heard again and again, and the band’s origins in ’60s rock still shine through. Even a dystopian country ballad about the age of relatability made it onto the album.
The playfulness and unpredictability typical of Catch As Catch Can, the only constant in their oeuvre, runs through everything. The production focuses on the essentials. After the lush production of the predecessor, Rational Anthems was recorded more reduced, in a small circle, so to speak, but at the same time is clearly more aggressive and raw.
Lyrically, too, a further development can be recognised. The joy of wordplay and the countless allusions have been retained, but there is also a new seriousness. This is expressed in general criticism and personal reflection, whereby sweeping slogans are always rejected. Even if the choruses are sometimes quite catchy, they remain rational, rational anthems. Sometimes they lament the disappearance of ambiguity, sometimes they talk about how big social conflicts express themselves in micro contexts, but then they also address conspiracy ideologies, a life on the internet and the difficulties of indulging in the necessary hedonism from time to time in the midst of all this. Finally, a German band again that sings in English but not trivialities.”
