If you’ve not heard of Poeticat then this is about to change with their EP release of ‘Smash the Floor’; five tracks of musical poetry that lasts for over 24 minutes, and which puts many musicians to shame with their infectious grooves and in your face lyrics.
Assisting in the rise of fan base are their live shows. They have been in residency at South London venue The Brixton Windmill, where they play their unique and energised blend of spoken word and punk attitude rock. Catherine Martindale, the wordsmith, flows with passion that moulds well with her London swagger. Will this work on record? Let us find out.
Catherine Martindale – words, Zigi Jadovski – vocals, Baj Kenrick – guitar, Ivo Ramalho – Bass and Victor Meadowcroft – percussion form Poeticat. Forged together musically with the help of funding by the England arts council.
‘Smash the Floor’ begins with ‘Jetty’, haunting vocals start this off then the beat gets heavier. Calm blues riffs plays out that adds sensitivity to the sound with the poetry of life about being near a Jetty. Check out some of the lyrics on this track as there are many to have a listen to.
One of the standouts of this EP is ‘Centre of the Concrete Square’ about life on a council estate, this is grittier with heavier beats. Catherine’s vocals are louder and with distorted vocals, “And my mother never knew that if she let me get my ears pierced I would hang silver hoops from them. And my father never knew if he kept shouting at the prime minister on the telly, I’d grow up to be a socialist poet”
The words throughout this track are immense, the structure and the meaning behind the song is strong and thick with irony. So much is happening and there are surprises too in how they they shift in style; Zigi adding the atmospheric vocals makes this emotive and stand out.
For comparison sake, Poeticat can be likened to Lola and the Kickstarts. There may be a likeness to Lily Allen and Kate Nash mainly because of Catherine’s spoken word style. A track like ‘Rest Reprise’ puts Poeticat on another level. Zigi and her experimental melodies, a slow peaceful tone mixed with Baj on guitar and the repetitive drum beat gives more of a feeling and a voice to the voiceless.
With an atmospheric tune ‘Kind Words Soft Kill’, Catherine spreads her words, their style is strong, Poeticat have made a sound that is their own, the worries of life and humour together make this band a group to watch out for. Throughout the poetry, the haunting chorus of chanting by Zigi Jadovski adds so much to the tune and plenty of tension.
Final piece of this jigsaw is ‘3rd Arm’, the hypnotic guitar riffs with a cool bass vibe opens this track. The tempo becomes heavier, the ‘3rd Arm’ becomes a punk groove in your face, fist in the air, stand and listen people. In the words of Poeticat “welcome to the third arm” The contrast within this track works so well; Catherine with her passion and Zigi with her melodies makes it happen, Baj on guitar gets louder with the riffs crunching like a lightning bolt. It seems Baj has much to get out on that guitar and will be heard.
Many musical genres are saluted within ‘Smash The Floor; you may like these guys or you may not, but one thing you will get is a sense of knowing you have been listening to a sound that is uniquely Poeticat.
[Rating:3.5]
Poeticat will be releasing their ‘Smash the Floor’ EP on 5th May.
