CAT TEMPER - Kitty Hate Machine

Review by KIZUNAUT

Mike Langlie aka CAT TEMPER is a Boston-based musician, graphic designer, illustrator and the most puntastic feline in the synth-scene. Cat Temper has become known for his unique style of music that eludes precise definition but which draws influence from 80s industrial acts, synthpunk and electronic oddities like DEVO, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Alien Sex Fiend. While mostly far removed from the typical fare of the genre, the synthwave community has eagerly adopted his unique music that might have been led astray in other times.

Starting from 2019, the extremely prolific musician has released eight albums, including an alternate soundtrack to the film Eraserhead. While the previous album More Than a Feline was an interesting but ultimately somewhat uneven experiment in blending Cat Temper's instrumentals with guest vocalists, the new album Kitty Hate Machine is a return to Cat Temper’s established form of instrumental music while offering an evolution of his sound.

As is fit for a tribute to Nine Inch Nails, Kitty Hate Machine sees Cat Temper at his most industrial. There are squirming basslines that recall 80s electronic body music, the occasional splashes of heavy, crunchy guitars and bursts of harsh FM synths. The style of composition and production is however unmistakably of Cat Temper's own, and the album is in my opinion better for it. It is truly a tribute and not a derivative.

Amongst the gnarlier industrial elements there are plenty of lighter moments to be found on the album. Cat Temper has a talent for conjuring up unusual melodies and strange synth tones that have prowled unknown sonic territories between quirky, mysterious, geeky and witchy. Sandwiched between growling EBM-sections you can find plenty of his off-kilter synthpoppy, videogamey stylings. This gives the tracks at times an almost dialogue-like feeling. The overall vibe is hard to describe, sounding like some kind of a videogame rave in a cartoon bat cave with moments of pure 80s leather jackets and sunglasses cool thrown in. Coming from a background of enjoying both 80s industrial and videogame music greatly, I enjoy the vibe. There's something quite visual to the music and I'd imagine some kind of animated, narrative music videos could elevate the music to a wholly new level.

On the production side of things the album has a definitively retro sound mixed with very pristine production. For the most part the synths and drums sound like things that could have well existed in 1989 when Pretty Hate Machine came out. There's plenty of klangtastic FM-synths, heavy detuned square basslines, leads and arps with relatively simple tones and synthlines with a decidedly 80s feel. But there's also some more modern sounds to be found in the mix, too. Cat Temper apparently uses the Casio synths and primitive drum machines he started with along with more modern equipment. You can really hear it here. The mixing and production of the album is clean, discerning and airy, with the oldschool FM synths giving it a certain archaic digital rawness and fuzziness. It's a unique take. You can really hear every detail, every purr and hiss of every synth in it. My only complaint when it comes to the production side of things is that I found bass drums occasionally getting lost in the mix. It's a very synth-forward album.

Cat Temper has always had a very striking, unique visual aesthetic featuring plenty of bright colors and cats. Kitty Hate Machine is no different. Featuring a very colorful illustration of a goth/punk woman with a leather vest that has a Cat Temper logo on it, the artwork conjures the inspiration and aesthetic of the album wonderfully. There’s playfulness in it, the hot salmon pink background, the rad leopard sleeves, but also a bit of a threat as she is brandishing a heavy chain. While Cat Temper is also a visual artist, the album artwork was done by the Brazilian artist Foreigner, and the gritty death metal inspired logo was done by the Russian designer Misha Mono.

The album opens with The Meoward Spiral. It gets straight into the business with a mix of super gritty guitars that almost recall black metal that eventually give way to a more electronic section with deep kick drums and a constant bassline. Synth leads join in, casting a mysterious, waiting mood. The track switches into a part where bursts of heavy riffs alternate with quirky high pitched synths, followed by an interlude of ascending guitar riffs. Fast electronic beat joins in the track picks up energy, finishing off with a mix of guitar riffs and high-pitched synths that cast a kind of darkly playful vibe.

The Paw That Feeds kicks off with a super gnarly line of FM synths playing a repeating riff that recalls oldschool EBM. After a brief guitar-driven interlude this gives way to a section driven that opens with strange throaty synths and a synthetic breakbeat. Layers of synths are built upon this formula, eventually building to a dramatic sounding climax. Grinding detuned synths and beats follow, and they are soon joined by a curious sounding bright arpeggio. The gnarly EBM section repeats before the track moves to it's extended outro section, featuring a metallic bass synth arp and a buzzy synth lead that are eventually joined by another brighter lead and guitars.

Shed Like A Hole opens with a detuned bass arpeggio and distorted wormy synths, strongly recalling 80s synth punk and industrial. Sharp, rolling synthetic drums come in, as does a wet, resonant secondary synth arp. The track bursts into life with a bright synth melody that feels like a call to an adventure. The track alternates between this melody and more gnarly sections until the end where the melody repeats and is joined by a whistling synth that gives the track a very spacey vibe.

Metallic FM bassline that is pure classic EBM opens Pet You Like An Animal. Dramatic, metallic synth hits join the bassline and the beat. The synth hits drop, but the bassline is now doubled with a super gritty FM faux-electric guitar, which is joined by synths which cast a strange, witchy mood. The section with dramatic synth hits repeats. This section is followed by an interlude of a resonant, pulsing synth bass and heavily detuned quirky arps, giving a faster variant of the verse, one last repeat of the chorus and a quick outro featuring the quirky arps from the interlude. One of the more structurally conventional pieces on the album and a personal favorite for it's oldschool industrial sound.

She's Gone Astray opens with buzzy, shrill, rapidly panning synths before exploding into a gritty, driving section dominated by a heavy bassline. An aery section dominated by hollow square synths that cast a mood that wanders between melancholy and mystery comes next.This is followed by an interlude that is lighter in mood that I can't help but to describe as ”cartoon chase sequence” music. The section with hollow square synths repeats, this time with additional high-pitched pizzicato synths pinging around. After a quick interlude the heavy driving bassline from the start comes back, this time mixed in with atmospheric swooshes and gnarly noisy synths, before ending with shrill, menacing synths that play a dramatic melody.

A quick drum roll kicks off Starfluffers Inc, soon followed by a steady beat and a menacing metallic FM synthline. Dramatic, squirming distorted synths come in, followed by large, somewhat choir-like synths coming in, forming a chorus for the track. The verse comes in again, this time with some extra elements thrown in. The chorus repeats with a spidery arpeggio joining in. A more stripped down version of the verse follows, which is then followed by one last extended repeat of the chorus. Another favorite of mine for it's hyper-dramatic dark synthpop mood; sounds like being hunted by a Terminator in an abandoned church in Los Angeles.

Purest Feline begins with a mysterious, dramatic sound effect that is followed by a rather videogamey sounding mix of arpeggiated basses and an evolving mass of sharp synths that sounds like halfway between an arp and a pad, having a kind of a Commodore 64 vibe to it. Energetic section of more videogamey elements alternating with rocking guitars follows next, and after that comes a section that is pure synthpop with it's detuned retro saw synth melody and extra slap bass hits. A brief interlude leads into a section where mysterious, dramatic synth hits loom over the bassline, soon joined by an equally dramatic and mysterious saw lead, culminating in a section with a rather funky extra slap bass line dropping in. The track strips itself down, leaving an alternative version of the earlier synthpoppy section that eventually builds up and leads to a repeat of the part with rocking guitars before ending with one note repeating over and over, the track getting sucked into outer space in a swoosh of synth effects. Yet another highlight of the album in my opinion for it's cool mysterious mood and varied synthwork.

Hissitation Marks is the album's closing track, and it kicks off with menacing pitch, bending synths which are then joined by a resonant arp that casts a sinister mood. A slow, heavy synth bassline follows, joined by crunchy, distorted guitars. Rolling percussions and a pattern of detuned saw synths joins in, casting a sinister mood. An interlude with guitar leads and  sharp synths that play a minor key melody follows. This is followed by a section dominated by a synthetic blastbeat and equally fast and harsh guitar work before the track somewhat abruptly ends with a quick repeat of the pitch-bending synths that it opened with.

Overall, the album is yet another very solid offering from Cat Temper and a gradual evolution of his unique sound. It quickly established itself as my favorite from his catalogue as I found the overall style very appealing. Those who like the quirkier side of retro synth music will enjoy the album, especially if they like bit of a bite. Fans of oldschool industrial will also likely find the music here quite a catch.

Cat Temper seems to have established a solid following and is well on the way to become a future cult classic. And for those who have been hesitant to explore his music because they've found all the cat puns too much of a hairball to swallow, this is the perfect opportunity to dip their paws into Cat Temper's ever-expanding discography. After all, there is serious talent behind all the humor.

For more Cat Temper, visit cattemper.com