In some ways,
the Big Cats are so retro they're positively cutting edge: this Little Rock quartet is a jangly guitar pop band from the South, a style of music that was absolutely everywhere in the post-
R.E.M. '80s but has been decidedly absent from the cultural Zeitgeist for quite some time.
On Tomorrow isn't some kind of archeological enterprise, however: this kind of low-key, earnest jangle pop is more timeless than that. Led by singer/songwriter Burt Taggart,
the Big Cats have actually been around in one form or another since 1994, but
On Tomorrow is only their second album. Lead guitarist Jason White has a no doubt more financially pleasurable sideline as
Green Day's second on-stage guitarist; he also co-owns the Adeline Records label with
Billie Joe Armstrong. Similarly, drummer Colin Brooks is also a touring member of Canadian indie rockers
the Stills.
On Tomorrow has the casual, low-key vibe of a record made by old friends with little on the line beyond a good time for themselves, but it lacks the jammy self-indulgence of many similar records. Taggart's songs, largely minor-key tunes with echoes of everyone from
Marshall Crenshaw to
the Gin Blossoms, are too concise and melodic for that.
On Tomorrow will leave cold folks who don't care for this currently unfashionable style, but anyone who remembers the name
Guadalcanal Diary should snap it up immediately. ~ Stewart Mason