One Track Mind- Hey You

Summer Cats “Hey You”
Thursday July 2nd, 2009

In a couple of weeks, Australia’s Summer Cats will be releasing their debut full-length, Songs for Tuesdays, on Slumberland Records. “Hey You” is our first peek at the record–a driving indie-pop tune anchored by some seriously distorted guitars and Scott Stevens’ no-nonsense vocals. The strategy employed by Summer Cats is similarly frill-free: the song structure doesn’t try to offer up any surprises, the instrumentation is that of your traditional rock band, and even the track length scrapes by at just over two and a half minutes.

That said, just as originality alone isn’t enough to elevate a song into grandeur, neither does its deficiency preclude it from being catchy. Indeed, catchiness is Summer Cats’ M.O., and “Hey You” is a shining example of that instantly gratifying type of music: the summer song. “Hey You” is infectious at the most basic, nervous system level, designed to induce unconscious fits of head bobbing. Beyond the more obvious indie-pop touchstones it invokes, it also claims the sloppy college radio sound of the early ’90s in its lineage; fans of pre-Navy Blues era Sloan should likewise dig it.

“Hey You” may not be enough to write home about, but as the summer months continue to heat up, you’ll be glad to have Summer Cats on your iPod.

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