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Written by Elle Hunt
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Wednesday, 16 December 2009 08:50 |
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BEAR CAT are a Kiwi duo that write and perform songs about pandas. It’s a bizarre thematic choice – but Jocee Tuck and Dan ‘Chopper Dan’ Trevarthen feel a kinship with the two-tone, endangered Chinese bear - and somehow, this complements the whimsical, simplistic nature of their tunes.
‘Presents Xiong Mao’ is a short album – at eight tracks, it’s under half an hour long, and therefore, more of an EP than an LP – but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in entertainment value.
Yup, although ‘songs about pandas’ sounds like a ridiculous concept (and indeed, in places, it verges on being so; such as when Dan sings, “'Cos extinction, it sucks”), it works much better than one would imagine. ‘Presents Xiong Mao’ is great fun to listen to, its pop choruses and sing-song melodies following in the footsteps of fellow Kiwi female-male twosomes The Brunettes and Little Pictures. |
Bear Cat’s songs are simple in structure and arrangement, with Tuck and Trevarthen sharing vocal duties to the backing of an acoustic guitar. This could come off twee, but the duo straddle the fine line between charming and sugary, by way of their extensive use of instrumentation - which recalls that of Liam Finn, or even (admittedly at a stretch) The Arcade Fire. Over the course of just eight tracks; Bear Cat employ melodihorn, omnichord, trumpet, glockenspiel, viola, violin, saxophone and backing vocalists to bring interest and depth to their otherwise straightforward songs. Their lyrics are uncomplicated (“Panda want your picture”) - but their melodies, infectious. Tuck in particular has a charming voice (she was named Songwriter of the Year 2009 by Auckland University), while Trevarthen’s Kiwi drawl has a sort of ‘Flight Of The Conchords’ appeal.
Now, onto the panda thing. Undeniably, Bear Cat’s lyrics seem ridiculous, especially when written down (“Panda, your fur is so soft/in summer, it must get so hot” – no, I’m not making this up) - but set to music, they work. And that’s no mean feat; considering that ‘Set, Set, Set My Eyes on Fire’ appears to be a love letter to Scarlett Johansson, written from the perspective of a panda. You’ve certainly got to give them points for creativity, and it does make a change from the usual fodder of love songs. References to John Campbell and Helen Clark in ‘New Zealand Adopt This Panda’ remind us that this is, in fact, a Kiwi record – something that easily slips the mind when the subject matter is found so far away from home.
‘Presents Xiong Mao’ is best taken with a pinch of salt – it probably won’t win any awards, but it’s creative, it’s fresh, and it’s fun to listen to. You’ve got to give Tuck and Trevarthen the credit for making an album that most artists wouldn’t have had the imagination, or the sense of humour to even consider viable. In a way, Bear Cat is a breath of fresh air in an industry that sometimes tends to take itself too seriously. |
