by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
In 2009, four Japanese women met in Brooklyn and decided that they really wanted to start a band. Fast forward 11 years and Master Cat is their third album and a remarkably strong one considering none of them were musicians beforehand. It does mean that the songs in Master Cat are raw and real but they carry them all with an underlying intelligence of craft and ambition; they’re not precise but they don’t need to be and don’t pretend to be either.
The last decade has built up a clear telepathic understanding between the four however: Yoki (vocals, keys), Saki (guitar), Gooch (bass), and Hitomi (drums) know when to promote one of the group to the forefront on a song, know when to let someone else seize their moment in the rhythm. They dovetail well between hard and soft, swinging from the abrasive rock of “Workaholic,” dominated by riffing guitars, into the surging melodicism of “Alternative Dreamland”. Later the raucous straight rock of “Analog Guys” is soon followed by the restrained keys in “Anaconda”.
The lively punk rock is bursting at the seams with personality. It’s bracing but supremely fun, it’s rowdy but wonderfully bright. They make one think of a wonderful combination of the Riot Grrrl spirit with the DIY aesthetics of Daniel Johnston; with its magnetic talking break showing disdain for old fashioned guys, the fierce “Analog Guys” comes closest to paying homage to the former. On “Master Cat” and “Mott’o,” they also show fondness for new wave, both tracks sounding like The B-52’s with their lurid synths and wacky instrumentation.
They finish with “Cupid Devil,” another clear indicator that they’re not content to just brashly play punk-rock in order to create a racket: with its dreamy atmosphere and lyrics influenced by horror and surrealism, it’s a subtly stylish way to close the record. Hard Nips are powered by enough personality to rouse even the most wary of listeners. With its meld of surprising grooves and infectious swagger, Master Cat should, if there’s any justice, promote them to a wider audience.