Cat on Form

Bastard brethren of Olympia and D.C.’s agro-punk politic scorekeepers, English kids Cat on Form are not here to shake hands. More likely, to rip them off, leaving bloody stumps waving. Cat on Form wants your attention, which might account for all the screaming. While the band’s shredded vocal cord approach is meant as an emotional ally to the lyrical content (i.e. society sucks, capitalism sucks, fuck the man, ad infinitum …), this proves distracting from the instrumental interplay and dramatic contrasting of lilting notes against a barrage of jagged chords that serrate song structures. Structure and Fear is a decent introduction to an exciting band, though Cat on Form’s potential far exceeds some of the formulaic hardcore that impedes it here.