(the) Catherine wheel
Wishville
(Columbia)
The definite article is new. The record
label is new. The bass player is new (though Ben Ellis didn't play a note on the record; after
Dave Hawes was dumped, the three remaining members shared bass duties). What's also new, and a
disappointing surprise, is the band's effort this time out. Catherine Wheel (sans
"the") unleashed four titanic, and, at times, pretentious blasts of rock in the '90s
to become, arguably, one of the decade's best. They aimed high and sometimes misfired, but one
had to acknowledge and applaud the effort. For their new label, The Catherine Wheel aim above
the horizon, but safely below the interstellar galaxies they previously traversed.
Wishville starts off with one of the album's best songs: the cathartic and radio-friendly
"Sparks Are Gonna Fly." Paired with onomatopoeic riffs, audio and verbal sparks most
definitely start flying in seconds. "Recent years were unsung/I light 'em up/Burning my
horoscope/Recent fears I've undone/I give 'em up." Having gone public with his bouts of
depression and professional guidance in that arena, front wheel Rob Dickinson wants everyone to
know he's still here. The chorus soars: "Now the sparks are gonna fly/'cos I'm turned on
again/Burning up the future/I'm taking off."
With a nanosecond's pause, Neil Sims' snare drum introduces "Gasoline," an
accumulation of similes describing a feeling of seeming pleasure for the song's narrator.
Drug-induced? Perhaps, though if this is the sound of Prozac nation, then on with better living
through chemistry. Unfortunately, the effect starts to wear off too soon. A suite of
slow-to-mid-tempo songs diffuses this listener's anticipation and only the seductive "Mad
Dog" snaps me back to attention. Past albums all have more tracks than
Wishville (and clock in an average of 10 minutes longer) and each has at least one
genuine epic that challenges the listener and the band over six or seven minutes. The closest to
that we get here is the just-under-five-minute, tempo-changing, harmonica-tinged "Ballad of
a Running Man." Appreciated, though not of marathon caliber, especially when compared to
past moments like "Phantom of the American Mother," "Fripp" or "Ursa
Major Space Station." With five of the album's nine songs real keepers, plus an
honorable mention, Wishville earns better than a 50 percent score, though it's a laggard
in the discography. Rating: 6
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