Swampy but Smooth
Catfish Haven has released a pair of engaging EPs in the past three years, but its first full-length, the brand-new Tell Me, outstrips those samplers by a mile. Propelled by George Hunter’s beaten-dog wail and crackling acoustic guitar, the local trio have imagined a compelling indie-rock-folk-soul hybrid, and live they play with an intensity that hints at their hardcore roots.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
“The real turning point was hearing What’s Going On in its entirety,” Hunter says. “That was pretty mind-blowing. Once I heard that, I just needed more. Looking through my dad’s records, he had an old Sam Cooke LP, and that really, really opened my eyes. Just the simplicity of the tunes, and yet how every single one of them was like a bona fide fucking jam. It was so effortless, but it was pure feeling.”
By the following year they had recorded 16 tracks at a friend’s home studio, and 7 of them became the band’s first EP, Good Friends. After failing to find a label, they put it out themselves in 2003 and sold it at shows. The songs only hinted at the band’s potential, but they were good enough to catch the ear of Matthew Johnson, owner of Mississippi blues-rawk label Fat Possum. By early 2005 Fat Possum had drawn up contracts and funded recording sessions, but once Johnson heard the finished second EP, he balked.
Tell Me won’t do much for audiophiles. Like the band’s earlier discs it’s sonically simple, and despite the number of musicians it has a charmingly rickety, first-take feel. Their formative punk and soul influences run through the entire album, though cuts like the title track evoke the 70s white-boy gospel flavor of Grand Funk Railroad and early Doobie Brothers more than Marvin Gaye or Sam Cooke.
Catfish Haven When: Wed 9/13, 9 PM Where: Durty Nellie’s, 180 N. Smith, Palatine Price: $20 Info: 847-358-9150
