Two Shoes, recorded in Cuba at the Egrem Studio (the studio used by the Buena Vista Social Club), is a wonderfully warm amalgam of musical stylings--funk, jazz, ska--and their unbridled enthusiasm for their tunes (whether you like that type of music or not) will make you tap your fingers along the steering wheel as you listen to it, driving to your brother's house for a charged game of Pictionary.  Full text...

Though Two Shoes is a bit short, and perhaps not quite the equal of the band’s earlier albums, it’s an excellent introduction to the Cat Empire’s exuberant fusion sound.  Full text...

the guitar-less six-piece from Australia translates the frenetic genre-blending energy of its live show to disc, losing little in the translation. Though the lyrics mimic the wordiness of G. Love and often veer into the self-referential territory of, say, late-'90s 311 ("Party Started"), the real focus-and strength-is the music. "The Chariot" mixes a streamlined reggae verse with an emphatic brass-section chorus: dorm-room-ready party music.  Full text...

These boys are keeping it real. Touting a collection of songs audibly pimped and built around thousands of live-shows, The Cat Empire raise the roof with the scratchy, shuffling hip-hop of ‘Party Started', and the wedgy-giving joyride around Stax and Rhythm and Blues that is ‘The Car Song'. Part Blues Brothers, part Beach Boys, part Fats Domino, part Prince Buster, part Big Band, part Rap.  Full text...