Saturday, February 14, 2026

Taken by surprise (The Family Cat) (LP 4304)

The Family Cat  tell 'em we're surfin' (Vinyl, Bad Girl Records, 1989) **  

Genre: Indie rock

Places I remember: The Little Red Bookshop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Gabriel's Wings (YouTube)

Gear costume: Sandbag Your Heart (YouTube)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7

Active compensatory factors: This is a mini-album (eight songs) by The Family Cat - a British indie rock group. It's their debut recording, they went on to produce a couple of albums, produced by The Jam's Rick Buckler.

It's a curious mix of styles - some Brit-pop, some indie-pop, some post-punk/new wave (Albert Hoffman's Bike) some Americana (Gabriel's Wings in case you're wondering and it's great!). Some of it is not so great, it has to be said.

Where do they all belong? Ultimately, they struggled to carve out an identity that gave them a sustained career, but this is an interesting introduction to a weirdly named band.

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