Allan’s World of Music

It is with great honour that I present to you all Tomcat Combat, an awesome post-rock band that happens to be from our native Canada (more specifically Halifax, NS). Tomcat Combat formed in 2005, and I’m Okay, You’re Okay marks their debut album, to be released July 1st of this year.

This album is friggin’ solid! Tomcat Combat fuses post-rock with a more punk, electronic pop rock feel. You can tell there is definite focus on dynamic rhythms and timbre—the instrumentation seems to be very well-thought out. According to press, they are similar to that of Mogwai, Slint, and Explosions in the Sky, but personally I find that a little debatable. The album starts off with “Pacer’s Club,” which I consider one of the best tracks on the album due to the band’s ability to master rhythmic shifts. If you listen really carefully, you can hear hints of intricately planned instrumentation. Tomcat Combat can surely define the subtlety of synth mixing. I’m not sure how I could possibly explain it more; just scroll down a bit and play it. Tomcat Combat are masterminds of dynamic rhythms. ‘Nuff said.

Songs like “I’ve Seen Death” and “New City Blocks” give a cool Royksopp feel, like we’re listening to a soundtrack of a classic Sega Genesis video game (I feel like I’ve made this comparison before). “Mountains and Planes,” the album’s longest track at 9 minutes and 52 seconds is probably the epitome of what I really sense when I listen to Tomcat Combat. It starts of slow and mellow, with simple melody of a guitar, and the subtle synth mixes. The transitioning of instrumentation is just beautiful. I was definitely in awe when I first listened to this song. It could be really easy to just overlook the ingenuity of this one track. About four and a half minutes in, there is an entirely new rhythmic shift—not so much abruptly as to make it sound awkward—just the right fade out and introduction to let you know it’s a new act of the same play (for lack of a better metaphor).

And that’s what I feel could be said for the album in its entirety. Tomcat Combat definitely use rhythm to their advantage. There’s nothing boring or familiar about it for one to sigh out sarcastically, “Oh yeah. That definitely hasn’t been done before.” It’s fresh, it’s energetic, it’s as quirky as the band name!

I’m Okay, You’re Okay will be, without doubt, one of my favourite post-rock albums of 2008 (and not just because they’re Canadian). The music is familiar enough to be pocketed into the “post-rock” genre, but enough to not be classified under generic and conventional.

If you wish to pre-order the album (which I highly recommend that you do), click here to buy from the label. You won’t be able to find it through Amazon, CD Universe, or Insound–for now, anyway.

Enjwoi!

Tomcat Combat - Pacer’s Club

Tomcat Combat - Ponies on Ice

1 Comment for “Tomcat Combat - I’m Okay, You’re Okay”

1. Pages tagged "slint" — July 6, 2008 @ 11:04 am
   
   

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