01. Easter Bunny Song

02. Into Day

03. I Know

04. True Crime Motel

05. Mississippi River Factory Town

06. Jimmy's Candy

07. Just Once

08. L'amour C'est Ca

09. Lullaby For Steeplejack

10. Breathe For Me

Date: 1995 Label: (Originally released on Matador/TeenBeat). Reissue by Lilypad Records.

Performers-

Cath Carroll : Vocals (lead and backing)

Kerry Kelekovich : Bass, Shaker, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background)

Nicholas Markos : Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Percussion, Vocals (Background)

Marcos Sueiro : Keyboards, Tambourine, Vocals (Background)

John Maier: Drums and percussion

All songs © 1995 & 2002 Superclammy, Ltd. Publishing ASCAP except "L'Amour C'est Ca" copyright unknown.

Cath Carroll : Producer

Kerry Kelekovich : Producer, Engineer, Mixing Front & Back Cover Photography

John Carpenter : Engineer @ Thunderclap Recording

George Kalantzis : Original Design

Tom Allen : Insert Book Photography (original B&W inside)

TRUE CRIME MOTEL Cath Carroll

Fusing the limpid loopy melody ambiance of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack with the gritty flavour of a modern urban noir thriller.  -Paul Davies Q Magazine

Her lyrics, impressionistic and surprising, paint pictures whose messages fade in and out of focus-but are always intriguing to gaze at. -Anthony DeCurtis Men's Journal

Singing in a cool, understated voice that's closer in feel to Sade's than Courtney Love's, and backed by subtle Caribbean rhythms, this erstwhile British chanteuse doesn't sound like anybody else in the indie-rock world, and that's a major plus. The melodies are smoky and subtle, as is the voice, and the rhythms are perfect for swaying on a hammock. But don't get too comfortable- Carroll's tales of romantic burnout have a nasty little bite to them. -Greg Kot Chicago Tribune

A clutch of songs which wouldn't seem out of place on a Gram Parsons album...if Elvis Costello arranged it, and Debbie Harry washed up the dishes. -Dave Thompson Alternative Press

The former Miaow singer relocated to the states a few years ago and, after experimenting with South American rhythms, she's checked into a cheap motel where every door, staircase and hallway echoes with some character's story... Carroll's hushed and expressive voice is perfect for these low-rent tales, spreading an opium-like sense of calm, particularly on the gorgeous 'I Know' and 'Into Day'. -Steve Malins VOX Magazine

 

 

Recently, Cath Carroll is probably most recognized as the cover star on Unrest's final album, Perfect Teeth, but she has quite an impressive, if little-known, musical career: as the leader of the early `80s Factory band Miaow and as an NME writer. True Crime Motel, her first solo album, follows two 7" singles on Teen Beat, and it's a fuller expression of her musical talents. The focal point of True Crime Motel's 10 songs is Carroll's smooth, sultry voice, which meshes seamlessly into the folds of her effervescent songs. Her voice is so low-key that her lyrics are often hard to decipher, but her tone makes her sound like a dark cousin to Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl. This really comes to the fore on the spare "I Know," where in a hushed tone she sings, "We were always driving through the night/Past city miles and orange lights and/Texaco, Amoco, Mobil," stringing out the surprisingly poetic-sounding gas station names as if they were pregnant with suggestion. Also like Thorn, Carroll infuses her piano-centric songs with jazzy motifs, but they're worked into a less straight-jazz, clearly more pop mold. The album's final cut "Breathe For Me," with its sprightly acoustic/electric guitar interplay, soars above the rest, as does the swanky "Mississippi Factory Town," which almost turns into a jubilant, piano-based pop song by its end. The beautiful "L'Amour C'est ca," sung in luscious French, is also a lovely setting for Carroll's mood-evoking vocals. - © 1978-1999 College Media, Inc.

I'm usually not a huge fan of TeenBeat Records, even though they had the good taste to sign my friends The Rondelles, who are also three-quarters of the Flamingo band LuxoChamp. But this 1995 album by the British singer (formerly of the C-86 band Miaow and also a longtime journalist for the NME) is an absolute gem, sounding like nothing quite so much as an updated version of a Mike Alway-era Cherry Red release: low-key, gentle but not wimpy, by turns vague and knife-sharp. The soothing yet insistent eight-minute closing track, "Breathe For Me," is worth the price of admission alone. A perfect rainy spring evening record, maybe because I'm listening to it on a rainy spring evening. - © Stewart Mason

the under belly of the night - April 21, 1999 Reviewer: A music fan from Vancouver, Canada

dark dusky melodies, ethereal vocals, an alternative view of mid America.

Breathe for me is one of the best tracks on any American recording... Morrissey lives in the deep south... - December 24, 1998 Reviewer: A music fan from Tennessee