Catchers - Mute (25th Anniversary Edition) (2019)

"Oh, what were those times!" Anyone who can not bear the ridiculous 80s revival, remember the 90s with the forgotten Britpop heroes CATCHERS. For the 25th anniversary of their fantastic debut album Mute (September 1994) four records come out: The remastered said, the also revised Shifting EP, a live CD with recordings from 1994 to 1996 and the special version album We Speak In Flames. The EP is on the mute album anyway with the tracks "Shifting" and "Cotton Dress" integrated.

Who were catchers again? The indie pop band originally came from Northern Ireland's Portstewart and is now located in London. She is also represented by DALE GRUNDLE (vocals / guitar), ALICE LEMON (vocals / keyboard) and PETER KELLY (drums). GER FITZGERALD (bass), CRAIG CARPENTER (bass) and Jonathan Lord (guitar) had already quit in the 90s. Grundle and Lemon already knew each other from teen days and founded Catchers in 1993, which officially existed as a band until 1999. Grundle started the band THE SLEEPING YEARS in 2006.

Catchers were never stars like OASIS or PULP, but played as their opening act. Her first album, Mute, sparked energy with indie pop songs like "Shifting" and "Apathy", but also had Dreampop ("Sleepyhead") and Indierock ("Jesus Spaceman") on board. The album sounds like a youthful departure ("Worm Out") and rural melancholy ("Song For Autumn"), but was perhaps too complacent and not very individual in the music cosmos at the time. ASH, who also remembered the nineties this May, was just ahead of them. Still, it's amazing how timely most of the songs still sound and how easy they are in the ear.