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Rat Cat Hogan:
We're Bicoastal
Rat Cat Hogan has taken journalistic confession to its indie rock extreme. This reviewer cannot compare their earlier work, but the accompanying press implies that Were Bicoastal is a shift for both Herbert Bergel and Robbie Skrocki: longer songs, more accompaniment, key changes. The songs may be updated in style, but apparently songwriter Bergels adventures as a normal man still form the core of Rat Cat Hogans latest album. Most of the thirteen songs on Were Bicoastal have a certain raw lyrical quality that translates fairly well to the liner notes. The songs are self-referential, peppered with Bergels first person stories. Weddings, funerals, parties, trips Rat Cat Hogan are indeed bicoastal. On paper, where listeners can set their own pace to the tale of the song/poem, occasional beauty can be detected. Our First Noreaster is a good example; it is a concise take on the death of an acquaintance. Unfortunately, when set to the uninspired indie pop music, even the smattering of beauty present in the tales is utterly lost. I Never Run into Anybody is such a song the mildly humorous story of running into an old classmate (or wanting to) makes sense with periods and quotations. In song, it becomes meaningless; the humor is gone as quickly as any concept of a real melody. And Business Trip to Portland is simply painful to hear. Set to music, the stories lose all of their appeal. Poetry on the page does not always translate to a pleasant sonic journey. And even if the stories were always wry and appealing, the listener cannot escape the generic indie formula of the music and Bergels voice awkwardly forcing the lyrics to fit awkward melodies. Bergels guitar is good, and the drumming of Skrocki is accomplished. The vocals are unremarkable. It is the lack of a clear goal in telling these tales and the slightly painful singing that makes Were Bicoastal forgettable.
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