Album Review: Catholic Action - In Memory Of

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this – their debut record – during its 11-track duration. It’s just, so much stands still when it could be moving around with the angst they can sometimes bring out of their tunes.

The Scotsmen take a lot from the scene which lifted them upwards. Frontman Chris McRory is really the father figure of the group. And at times his vocals sound more than a little like his countryman Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand.

And like those guys, they produce some terrific pop rock riffs. That stinking bassline throughout Breakfast is a real album highlight, with the almost lazy guitars over the top carrying the lyrics nicely from start to finish.

Following on from this, The Shallows is a deeper version of that track. Haunting vocals from McRory betray a large amount of emotion. And the melodies build to a pained wall of sound that feels fantastical and dark all in one fell swoop.

But the high points stick territorially to the middle section of the record. A lot of the guitar-led fare sandwiched around it is pedestrian and, like that opening lyric, ‘music to tick boxes’ almost.

Tracks like Childhood Home are ponderous and slow in their delivery. Even at a meagre length of three minutes, you are almost waiting for the track to finish and move on to the next instalment.

New Year is another which grates. The melody style employed is of the Razorlight variety and the thwonking bass cannot save the plodding feel of the rising and falling vocals.

But there is one breaker of the rules. That track Propaganda gets another mention, and its post-punk synths flitter nicely behind antsy lyrics that hint at the kind of musical values The Cure and New Order hold dear.

This album is just a little stop start and muddled in its feeling. Not one that will live overly long in the memory.

Rating: 6/10

Catholic Action will play at Birmingham’s Actress & Bishop on November 10, with support from Nottingham band Kagoule.