The Cat Heads were an
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band from
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. The band formed in 1985 with a later line-up recording as The (ex) Cat Heads.
History
The original line-up of the band was former Love Circus and Leaches singer Mark Zanandrea (vocals, guitar), former Ophelias guitarist Sam Babbitt, former
X-tal bassist Alan Korn, and
Donner Party
The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...
drummer Melanie Clarin.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 257][Sullivan, Denise]
Cat Heads Biography
, Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, retrieved 2010-12-06 They signed to
Enigma/
Restless
Restless or The Restless may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Restless'' (1998 film), a Chinese-American romance film
* ''Restless'' (2000 film), a Finnish romantic film
* ''The Restless'' (2006 film), a South Korean fantasy film
* ''Restless'' ...
, and released their debut album, ''Hubba'' (produced by Matt Piucci of
Rain Parade), in 1987, described as a mix of "punk, post-punk, folk-rock, and country".
[Sullivan, Denise]
''Hubba'' Review
, Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, retrieved 2010-12-06 They followed this in 1988 with ''Submarine'', this time with
David Lowery producing.
Zanandrea and Clarin then left, to be replaced by Barry Hall and John Stewart, continuing as The (ex) Cat Heads, although Clarin returned to guest (on "Anti-song") on their 1989 album ''Our Frisco''.
[Schinder, Scott]
Cat Heads
, ''Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'', retrieved 2010-12-06 Clarin and Zanandrea, meanwhile had joined It Thing.
Zanandrea and Babbitt later worked together in The Androgynauts.
Babbitt and Korn re-emerged in The Mudsills.
The band have reunited a few times since, including opening for
Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California, in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk, folk, alternative, country, and world music, among other ge ...
at the latter's 25th anniversary reunion gig at The Fillmore in 2008.
Discography
*''Hubba'' (1987), Enigma/Restless
*''Submarine'' (1988), Restless
*''Our Frisco'' (1989), Twitch City - as The (ex) Cat Heads
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cat Heads
Indie rock musical groups from California