TOTT 2016 #5: CATHOLIC ACTION

This highly touted Glasgow quartet have been garnering praise almost since their inception back in 2014 drawing comparisons to other Scottish indie heavyweights like Teenage Fanclub and Primal Scream. The latter of those could lazily be put down to the fact that Chris McCrory’s journey from behind the kit as the drummer in Casual Sex (a position he still holds) to his place fronting Catholic Action follows the same path as Bobby Gillespie, who himself left the drum kit behind for East Kilbride noise-mongers Jesus and Mary Chain before forming Primal Scream. You could make an even lazier comparison to their similar hairstyles.

For me though, these comparisons absolutely hold water because Catholic Action are seriously that good. Their pop sensibilities intertwine seamlessly with catchy riffs meshing into a perfect storm of garage, post-punk and indie rock that simply doesn’t sound like anything else out there at the moment.

With a slew of new material out this year, including two killer singles in Breakfast and Rita Ora what Chris McCrory and his three bandmates Ryan Clark, Jamie Dubber and Andrew Macpherson have put together is quite special. Get out and see this band while they are still playing intimate club venues so when they start their inevitable rise up the festival bill slots in support of their debut LP due next year, you can be the smug one saying ‘I saw them play a tiny club back in the day’.

Words by Steven Farkas

Tipped by Matt Baty from Amazing Radio

Catholic Action were originally featured on March 29^th with words by Chris Taylor

View the full TOTT 2016 countdown here