Catherine Wheel

Safe on the shore I’ve been sleeping

Faced by the thoughts I’ve been keeping

To break down the door of my life

I need more texture…

A need for greater substance and weight. That's the essential quality that got Catherine Wheel and their debut, the shoegaze gem "Ferment", immediately noticed by the specialist press at the dawn of the Nineties. Courted by Alan McGee, the father of Creation Records — the man who actively helped give birth to the so-called "scene that celebrates itself," first managing the then-unknown Jesus And Mary Chain and later signing debutants My Bloody Valentine to his roster — the band instead chose to release their music through the long-running "rival" Fontana, a label likewise devoted to psych leanings. From the earliest signs given by the EPs "She's My Friend" and "Painful Thing," both released in 1991, the band from Great Yarmouth screamed shoegazing with every echo and reverb, buoyed by an elusive vocal lost within a roaring vortex of galloping, feedback-laden guitars, and a strong pull towards the most tormented and afflicted interiority. Yet it was already clear that Catherine Wheel had more arrows in their quiver.

Within "Ferment," what makes the real difference is undoubtedly Rob Dickinson's voice — cousin of the well-known Iron Maiden singer Bruce (and here it's fair to say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree) — more seductive and full-bodied than those of his fellow gazers, along with the presence of sturdier guitars and rock-inflected solos, with which Brian Futter and the frontman himself build structures less ethereal and elusive than the genre's average. A greater sense of "materiality" can even be found in the choice of song titles, especially when compared with the light breezes of Slowdive, the glimmers in the dark sown by Lush, or the vapour trails of Ride. Another crucial piece of the puzzle is the presence behind the desk of the enlightened, exacting Tim Friese-Greene, the man who supported Talk Talk through what can be considered one of the most remarkable evolutions in the history of the pop landscape.

Because of the poor quality of the equipment available to Wilde Club and the lack of a seasoned producer, the EP tracks sound, while powerful and promising, rather rough round the edges — so much so that noise-pop would be a more fitting label than shoegaze. Dickinson and co., however, were very attached to some of them, and decided to build their debut album by reworking the poker hand of "I Want To Touch You," "She's My Friend," "Salt" and "Shallow." The difference compared to the pre-Friese-Greene period is enormous, and shows just how much this producer's touch contributed not only to shaping the legendary sound of "Ferment," but also to the growth of the young quartet, who matured enormously in terms of method.

The influences travel between Cure, Joy Division and Jesus And Mary Chain, towards the hazy border joining shoegaze, dream pop and noise-pop. "Ferment" is also the band's only record to include elements of neo-psychedelia of the British kind, recalling the work of Stone Roses. At the eye of the storm, vintage guitars vibrate, somewhere between Hendrix and, more broadly, American-rooted alternative rock (traces of grunge and hard rock will indeed surface fully in some later works). In particular, when played at a suitably considerable volume — as should be customary with shoegaze records — "Ferment" has a devastating impact, yet behind its sonic clatter there are always melodic glimpses to be found.

From the very opening, entrusted to the headlong drumming of "Texture," Dickinson and Futter's guitars roar brutally, bombarding the listener's senses without a moment's respite. When the picking eases off its assault on the strings, that wall of sound seems to crumble, generating a melancholy dust cloud in which Dickinson can let his anxieties, anger and fear echo. It's an overwhelming feeling, where the lyrics seem to oscillate between matters of the heart and veiled references to the world of drugs.

The album's three singles — "Black Metallic," the soaring closer "Balloon" and "I Want To Touch You" — raised the band's profile in the UK, where they were immediately recognised as a cornerstone of the scene. But they also provided a decisive push in the United States, where "Black Metallic" was played on heavy rotation on MTV and where the band would embark on a triumphant year-long tour. Despite a sharp, grainy sound decked out with imposing riffs reminiscent of Zeppelin, "I Want To Touch You" boasts a phenomenal melody and a chorus that oozes palpable sensuality; while the seven minutes of dark, drawn-out guitar labour that make up "Black Metallic," thanks to a central section where atmosphere and torment are intertwined and left to creep along before the final explosion, were destined from the start to become the zenith of their live performances. A few years ago Pitchfork, in its special feature on shoegaze, would go on to call the latter the genre's own "Stairway To Heaven."

Also worth remembering fondly are the progressively loaded psychedelic flourishes of "She's My Friend," the urgency of "Shallow," and the concentric rhythms and fading coda of "Salt." The track where Friese-Greene's hand is most evident, however, is undoubtedly the title track. The guitars drip with high, jagged notes, and the drums, usually pounded by Neil Sims with impetuous cruelty, are here brushed and coated in dust. It feels like stepping into one of the watercolours of "Laughing Stock," but danger lurks close by: the mournful calm sketched out by the instruments is swiftly swept away, torn apart by killer riffs that had been smouldering beneath the ashes. Even more distinctive and successful are the guitar parts of "Flowers To Hide," where the Fender strings are made to buzz in support of the sing-alongs, and of the more subdued "Indigo Is Blue," introduced by a tunnel of white noise, whose verses align more closely with the work of fellow travellers Slowdive and Lush.

Some chapters of "Ferment" are truly breathtaking, but what makes it an essential work is its cohesiveness, and the fact that every song it contains is an irreplaceable brick, impossible to remove without undermining the foundations and the final result. Alongside "Nowhere" and "Loveless," it represents the quintessence of shoegaze and is essential listening for any newcomer who truly wants to understand what the genre is all about.

The unstoppable urge to explore new sonic territories, which Catherine Wheel displayed with almost every new release, would make the rest of their career just as intriguing and essential, particularly the follow-up "Chrome", an album many point to as their absolute peak, as an alternative to the debut. It's a kind of compromise between the various facets of the Norfolk band, marked by steely guitars and an alt-rock sensibility made in the USA (indeed, they were among those who won the most acclaim across the pond, alongside Swervedriver), without whom, according to the bands themselves, projects like Death Cab For Cutie and Interpol would never have existed.

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06/10/2024