Highly recommended. Since 2007, JULIAN TEAKLE and PETER ESCOTT have been operating musically from their home city of Hobart, Tasmania, under the name of the NATIVE CATS; if not "working together" as such, then at least each asking the other's permission before adding something to a song, and generally moving towards a roughly common goal. Now, with the release of their third album, Dallas, the Native Cats' grand plan is becoming clear: big shifts within a very small space. The band's job description remains the same as it has always been Teakle plays bass, Escott sings and operates only the most user friendly electronics, and all the pieces are cryptically aligned in sympathy with your complicated troubles or steady anxiety but thanks to some adventurous songwriting, a criminally underrated Nintendo synthesiser, and a recent inspiring tour of noted musical hotspot the United States of America, Dallas is a unique and unusual beast. The Native Cats may have started out as something of a lo-fi minimalist muck-about, but with Dallas they are deep into something powerful and strange, something nobody knew they wanted until it was standing right in front of them, holding a bass and a portable video game console, sending the inner world to the outer world. Awesome late-night, driving-through-the-city music.
