Search - Catch 22 :: Alone in a Crowd

Excellent followup album, possibly superior to the debut.

Cenate Pruitt | 04/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Deftly avoiding the sophomore jinx, a restructured Catch 22 (sans original members Jamie Egan, Tomas Kalnoky, and Josh Ansley, adding bassist Pat Kays, guitarist Pat Calpin, horn player Mike Soprano, and Jeff Anderson on vocals) returns to the ska-punk sound that made 1997's "Keasbey Nights" a standout.

"Alone In A Crowd" builds on the darker, more violent themes of the band's earlier work, slamming death, regret, failure, abuse, neglect, and violence into thirty-three minutes (minus three minutes of dead air hiding a bonus track) of pure energy. Some of the tracks ("What Goes Around Comes Around", "Point The Blame", "Arm To Arm") easily equal or even surpass the "Keasbey"-era work, and the album never drags. A punked-out cover of the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B" adds a needed spot of brightness to the album's major thematic movement, the tale of two young lovers caught up in murder and mayhem in middle America. This album is reckless, ruthless, and an absolute blast to listen to. I cannot recommend it highly enough.



Five stars isn't enough."