Fat Cats
Keeping Up With the Dow Joneses

What is interesting about The Fat Cats is that they sound like everyone else, and yet are undeniably fresh. On their debut CD, Keeping Up With the Dow Joneses (YBS Records), these five British lads deftly blend big band jazz with elements of ska, funk and boogie woogie to create the kind of jumpin' sound that helped propel neo-swing to the top of the charts in the late 1990s.

"Can't Say No", the opening track, could have come straight off an early Royal Crown Revue release, with the same gangsta-bop swing style that made RCR a mainstream success. The hard-hitting horns and rapid-fire lyrics continue with "Puppet Girl", while "That's the Girl" has a swingier, Cherry Poppin' Daddies sound. The rest of the 12-track album, comprised entirely of originals, draws obvious inspiration from other trumpet-laden bands, from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to Madness, with the occasional Stray Cats bassline thrown in for good measure. But just when you think you have them pegged, The Fat Cats hit you with a song like, "Give Yourself to Me," which has a James Taylor acoustic vibe, or the Louis Prima-esque closer, "The Ballad of Julio Gonzales."

Although their influences are easy to peg, these cats are unquestionably one of a kind.

—Joanne O'Day

Visit the band online at www.thefatcats.net