Cates might claim that their new single, “Finer Distractions,” is the band throwing a pity party, but as parties go, it has a killer soundtrack. The song is one of those brilliantly self-deprecating numbers that only make you love the band more, and it has a brilliant slice of positivity in its apparent negativity. Just because the band in the narrative doesn’t have any fans, just because the audience is staring at them blankly and unimpressed, doesn’t mean that they are not going to play their latest songs and put the show on anyway. It’s a rule that all bands should live by.
Not that I can imagine Cates have those sorts of problems, not with songs like this up their sleeve. “Finer Distraction” is a neat slice of 70s-infused paisley-patterned power pop, a heady mix of more psychedelic times and today’s pop revival. What? No one told you about the pop fightback? Well, it just started. Right here. Right now. Courtesy of this very song. Let’s storm the barricades of pop mediocrity with this as our rallying cry…who’s with me?
Rock hooks drive pop sheens, the song is buoyant to the point of being effervescent, the dynamic breaks are perfectly placed and the song is brilliantly sing-along-able…which is a real word, I checked.
In short, this is the most beautifully nostalgic slice of forward-thinking pop since the loon-panted psychonauts, Jellyfish themselves, were treading the boards—and that is not a point of reference that I offer up casually!
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