Full Album Friday 7: Catholic Gaydar Casey Dorrell

Normally we use this site to tell you about music we like. Often we'll describe it in detail, adopting a semi-impartial viewpoint but it remains clear that we're, at heart, fans. Today, I'm going to do something a little bit different. I'm going to tell you about a band that you must avoid. Catholic Gaydar is an awful band created by wretched people. Jackass Johnny (Left) and Malevolent Matt (Right) First, the members. The ringleader, who sings, plays keyboards, is none other than the infamous Matt Packman. Matt, upon helping me get my current job, quickly fled our mutual workplace, leaving me all alone amid persons, with some exceptions, of questionable musical tastes. Alongside Matt we find none other than Johnny Larusic. Johnny, of course, is guilty of having a site so hot that it needlessly shames the rest of the internet. Additionally, he recently led two members of Mocking Music into a car (which may or may not have been subsequently locked) and forced free alcohol upon us. His sole redeeming feature being a one-time appearance on Mocking Music in 2005. I can only imagine the depravity of the rest of the band. Surely then, you see why you can never listen to Catholic Gaydar. Read about them below if you must but, please, don't listen to them: Catholic Gaydar is a Halifax-based band which is predominately a one-man outfit in recordings, but grows to a four person group for live shows. The brain child of Sharp Like Knives keyboardist, Matt Packman, the band hasn't yet released a full-length album. However, they have recently given away free self-titled EPs, and plan on recording something more substantial sometime in 2006. Catholic Gaydar The band is pop, but the lofi DIY approach leaves Catholic Gaydar with enough rough edges to keep them interesting. The nasal whispery vocals of lead, Packman, may be off-putting to some but for most of the songs it works, sounding natural rather than affected. The most obvious comparison is Grandaddy. Both the vocal style and the mix of basic instrumentation and inventive sampling recall early Grandaddy recordings. Lyrically, the band has much more in common with Pavement - a throwback to when indie and irony were synonymous (see Bryan Adams cover). Packman agreed to let us host the self-titled EP which I have below. What you'll hear is a band that has a lot of potential, which I know is a dirty word. Still, given their geographical disparities (they don't reside in the same province), the fact that the lead member is already in another somewhat successful band, and the jokey nature of the band, they probably won't ever grow beyond what they are now. But that's not necesarily a bad thing. Ideally, this is for fans of Grandaddy's B-side album, "Broken Down Comforter". Geoff with Band, Pretending to be Four Feet Tall Included are a few cover songs that didn't make the EP's cut. The Clinic cover is of particular note. Download: Catholic Gaydar - Don't Let Go Catholic Gaydar - Run to You (Bryan Adams) Catholic Gaydar - Cigarettes & Sleeplessness (Kim's Song) Catholic Gaydar - Call in the Gaydar Catholic Gaydar - I Fell in Love With Daniel's Hair, and Then He Cut it (Live @ Citadel Hill) Bonus: Catholic Gaydar - Starlight Ball (Laura Peek) Catholic Gaydar - Distortions (Clinic) Catholic Gaydar - 500 Up (Sloan) Related: Full Album Friday 6 (Sunday Edition): Hole Unglued, Unbootlegged Full Album Friday 5 (Monday Edition): Illegal Art Full Album Friday 4 (Sunday Edition): American Edit Full Album Friday 3 (Saturday Edition): Thrush Hermit - Nobody Famous Full Album Friday 2 (Saturday Edition): The 8Bits of Christmas Full Album Friday 1 (Saturday Edition): Sufjan Christmas