While people get the willies over the Jaguar cars rebrand, the other cat is back…
CAT TEMPER is the alter-ego of Mike Langlie, the most prolific meowsician in synthwave. At last count, he has issued 15 full length albums since 2019, mixing synthpop, electro, punk, hair metal with the sounds of 8-bit videogames. The ‘Furio’ album got an unexpected boosted when DURAN DURAN shared its ‘Rio’ homage artwork on their socials.
“I started making music in the 1980s and my style hasn’t changed much through the years.” Mike Langlie told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “Thankfully retro synthpop is back in fashion! I still use gear I’ve had since then and a lot of soft synths recreating classic hardware I sold or could never afford. Roland Juno basses and pads, Yamaha DX7 bells and leads, Jupiter-4 arpeggios, LinnDrum and Simmons drums among others. Also plenty of weird sounds from my first and favorite synth, the Casio CZ-101 which appears on almost all of my songs.”
Following-up the most recent CAT TEMPER album ‘Still Just A Cat In A Rage’ released just a few months ago, ‘From A Whisker To A Scream’ promises a more cosmic journey that ranges from “a gentle purr to a growling crescendo”.
Opening with the swooping synths and rich melodies of ‘Across The Stratosfur’, TANGERINE DREAM are paid tribute to, with spacey array of sequencer patterns and icy string machine interventions of the Berlin School also shaping ‘Force Meowjeure’ while ‘Alpha Catauri’ adopts more ominous downbeat tones. But the best track comes with ‘Dark Kitty’ which takes a diversion as swathed in melodrama, synthetic orchestrations do battle against a barrage of pizzicato.
On the more synthwave side of things and playing with the same Roland Jupiter arpeggiator used on DURAN DURAN’s ‘Save A Prayer’ for the intro, ‘Turn Of The Tail’ mutates into a neon-lit set piece. ‘Purrallel Worlds’ explores windier melodics over a vintage drum machine backbeat while a sinister rhythmic swing dominates ‘Remote Mewing’. Away from the cosmic, ‘Birdwatcher’ goes all metal but has cinematic diversions in between while ‘Escape Claws’ pays homage to Jean-Michel Jarre’s more dramatic mid-period.
Full of lush synths, whirling arpeggios and soaring solos, some may tire of the pawsome feline puns. But ‘From a Whisker To A Scream’ has cattitude and knowing references, so doesn’t take itself too seriously to ensure it never comes over pompous. You are either a CAT TEMPER person or you are not.
‘From A Whisker To A Scream’ is available as a splatter vinyl LP and download via https://cattemper.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cattempermeow/
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Text by Chi Ming Lai
17 January 2025
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