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Blood Bath
Pinched
Lines
Blackened Toes
Suffering From My Hypothalamus
My Excuses, My Emily
Mix Tape
Love Will Tear It
Mother Fucker Been Pissing Me Off
Funny Funny Ideas
Pan Am Flight 213
Every
Track 13
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Chop Chop
Chop Chop
The Archenemy Record Company
Posted: Friday, July 14, 2006
By: Roland Fratzl
By: Roland Fratzl
A first rate, emotionally powerful effort with a musical statement all its own, Chop Chop deserves to take the indie pop world by storm.
The self-titled debut release by Chop Chop is as engaging and interesting an album as you’ll hear coming out of the electro-pop genre, which is a label that doesn’t really do justice to the distinctive sound crafted by Catherine Cavanagh, who wrote, sang, produced, and engineered all the songs, as well as played guitar, drum machines, and some of the keyboards and bass (though Christy Cheng and Carla Caruzzo perform the majority of those duties).
It became clear to me right from the beginning that I was listening to the work of a truly gifted songwriter, brimming with unusual and fresh ideas. Fortunately, this trend never let up over the course of the entire 13 tracks to be found here. Chop Chop is a virtually flawless marriage of sweet melodies and quirky musical styling throughout, which are often deceptively complex. Cavanagh’s dainty, whispy girl-next-door vocals provide an amusing contrast to the often rage-filled and profanity-laced lyrics, accompanied mostly by a lovingly strummed acoustic guitar (though it occasionally gives way to jangly or scratchily distorted riffs), while odd little electronic noises and keyboards fill the background with very creative applications.
The biggest advantage that Chop Chop has over other artsy electro-pop artists is that Cavanagh never once loses focus on that old fashioned concept of melody – to my ears, there isn’t a single passage in the entire album’s music that isn’t immediately catchy. So many bands dress up their music in overproduced effects that it takes a while before you notice that there is absolutely no substance. You’ll find the opposite here. Chop Chop is a truly inspired affair, raw in its approach and pure in its intent, a must-have for any fan of indie music with a distinct personality.
It became clear to me right from the beginning that I was listening to the work of a truly gifted songwriter, brimming with unusual and fresh ideas. Fortunately, this trend never let up over the course of the entire 13 tracks to be found here. Chop Chop is a virtually flawless marriage of sweet melodies and quirky musical styling throughout, which are often deceptively complex. Cavanagh’s dainty, whispy girl-next-door vocals provide an amusing contrast to the often rage-filled and profanity-laced lyrics, accompanied mostly by a lovingly strummed acoustic guitar (though it occasionally gives way to jangly or scratchily distorted riffs), while odd little electronic noises and keyboards fill the background with very creative applications.
The biggest advantage that Chop Chop has over other artsy electro-pop artists is that Cavanagh never once loses focus on that old fashioned concept of melody – to my ears, there isn’t a single passage in the entire album’s music that isn’t immediately catchy. So many bands dress up their music in overproduced effects that it takes a while before you notice that there is absolutely no substance. You’ll find the opposite here. Chop Chop is a truly inspired affair, raw in its approach and pure in its intent, a must-have for any fan of indie music with a distinct personality.
