If you’re a musician, here’s a tip for you: put a vintage American car on the CD cover and you’ll definitely have one more sale. Because mainly because of the luxurious cover, all four parts of Rockabilly Nationals, a Swedish collection of songs of the corresponding genre, with twenty songs on each disc, got into my music collection. There was one track from the Top Cats band among every twenty, and that’s how I got to know this band. At first, these guys didn’t attract my attention in any way: the song Get Your Dirty Hands Off My Baby, included in the first part of Rockabilly Nationals, didn’t particularly attract my attention. It’s a typical country track at a solid average level, but nothing more. But since the second part, everything has changed.
Black Widow Spider was a kind of breakthrough: the extremely stylish-sounding song stood out very favorably against the background of the rest of the classic sound present on the compilation. The standard rhythm section in the form of a piano and double bass was equipped with two guitars and a piano at once, resulting in an extremely well-composed dense and incendiary sound, complemented by nothing particularly eye-catching, but very funny words telling about a certain femme fatale – and here it is, the best composition of Rockabilly Nationals Part 2. And, a little later, while examining the box of the third part, I was really pleased to see Top Cats on the list of artists. Their track was at the top of the list, so when I put the CD in, I was smiling in anticipation of a good rocking song.
My expectations were blatantly deceived. Butterfly is not just a good rocking song. Butterfly is the best thing I’ve heard this year. Of course, this is all a subjective perception, and everyone has their own tastes. Objectively, it seems to me that Butterfly’s performance technique is inferior to that of Black Widow Spider: with the same set of instruments, the song from the third part of Rockabilly Nationals sounds simpler. But, on the other hand, perhaps it is precisely because of this simplicity that each sound is accentuated much more strongly, it is heard better and penetrates… deeper. And despite the uncomplicated lyrics of the song, which tells how a guy leaves his girlfriend, I’ll be damned if you don’t at least try to sing along to this chorus. Anyway, Butterfly turned out to be a real bomb for me. At a certain point, I just listened to it over and over again, each time helping the vocalist.:
“I’ve seen the writing on the wall, I’ve heard the final curtain call. That is why-why-why bye-bye butterfly! I’m out the door, I’m movin’ on. Sure gonna miss me when I’m gone, but I won’t cry-cry-cry bye-bye, butterfly! Bye-bye, butterfly!”
Of course, after that, nothing on the third disc could have impressed me as much. And I didn’t expect that the composition from Top Cats on the fourth part of Rockabilly Nationals would be able to interrupt what I had heard before. Nevertheless, Kick Down turned out to be at least at the level of Black Widow Spider – the piano was replaced by a synthesizer, the theme changed to a neutral rock and roll theme, but overall I got the same unusual, eye-catching and extremely pleasant and very virtuoso-sounding track. Which cemented the idea that popped into my head to get to know Top Cats better. Find out their history, listen to their discography… In general, get ready for the kick down. This is what I’m living for.
As it turned out, Top Cats are not new to the Swedish rockabilly scene. Despite the fact that their first album was released only in 2011, they started playing back in 2001, and during that time they definitely gained a lot of experience. Their line-up has changed several times, but a certain core in the form of vocalist Jon Kleppenes and guitarist Fredrik Lilja has been in the band from the very beginning to this day. For almost two decades, the guys have still managed to achieve some recognition and can boast of such luxury as official video clips and their own label TC Entertainment. In addition, Top Cats recorded and released at least four albums – there is also extremely vague information that there were also at least two early records that were not counted on resources like Discogs. And it’s also worth noting that No More Heartache (2012), apparently, is just a reissue of Heartache with the same tracks. At least, as far as I understood, the first of these two albums also consisted of fourteen songs, it’s just that the last two tracks were secret and were not put on the cover separately.
Actually, Heartache (2011) contains mostly classical sound, which does not stand out in any particular way. Yes, this album, perhaps, in terms of performance, stands slightly above the main wave of good raggare bands of our time, but no more. The track I mentioned at the beginning of the article, Get Your Dirty Hands Off My Baby, is a good example of how Top Cats sound on their first record. Nevertheless, certain developments for future material slip through here and there, and one of these tracks is another gem in the relatively small discography of the Swedish band. I mean the song Baby Doll, which tells a simple and uncomplicated story that has everything: a car, a road, a girl and love. It’s hard for me to say which words particularly clearly reflect the essence of this composition, but I think these are the ones: “Streets look good when you’re in the front seat. Motor runnin’, bird is hummin’ right here beside me at the wheel. With her by my side nothing’s missing, I turn my wheels ahead and with a smile I press my right foot down.” Yes, if Butterfly is the best in terms of sound, then Baby Doll, from my point of view, definitely has the most beautiful and exciting lyrics.
In the future, Top Cats definitely realized their strengths, and therefore the record Smashing To The Ground (2013) has already fully immersed itself in the unique and peculiar sound of the band. It’s probably best described as neo-rockabilly, but the word neo-rockabilly covers too much and one track of this genre can be the exact opposite of another. One way or another, Top Cats were definitely able to identify the most correct guitar notes of modern rock and carefully mix them with classical rhythms, simultaneously adding some keyboards and brass. The result was something unique that could quite deservedly take the first place in Sverigetopplistan, the national Swedish music chart.
In terms of lyrics, Smashing To The Ground, on the one hand, consists almost entirely of seemingly classic texts about love and beautiful women, and on the other hand, it describes only the negative aspects of the whole thing.Broken hearts, unrequited love, envy and loneliness – that’s the theme chosen by Top Cats for this record. And every track consists of exactly that, without a single exception. Let everyone draw their own conclusions about this, but nevertheless, I strongly recommend listening to this album in its entirety to every rock and roll fan.
But in the text, perhaps, I will limit myself to squeezing out four tracks, not counting the already mentioned Black Widow Spider. I’ll start, perhaps, with the song Leave This Town. This is a very unusual story for rockabilly, telling how a pretty girl gets into an obviously very nasty town, and the main character wholeheartedly advises her to escape from this place as quickly as possible. The vocalist tells how every guy will go crazy for the heroine of the song, to the point of harassment and unwillingness to accept rejection, and every girl will be jealous, spread rumors and crave a fight. The whole point of the track is emphasized by the following words: “Oh, girl, you look so pretty. Too good to be true. The people ’round here are jealous of a girl like you.” Of all the stories on this album, Leave This Town is perhaps the most extraordinary.
I would also like to mention Stand Alone, a slow composition with a sound that involuntarily sends me back to the land of classic westerns, as well as the only text on the album that has nothing to do with love stories. No, this story tells, in my opinion, that even when someone is around, deep down we are still doomed to be lonely. No one, no matter how much they want to, is still not able to fully share and understand the feelings of another person – both sadness and joy. Overall, we get a very beautiful and lyrical track, as well as perhaps the best lyrics on the album.
Well, I think I’ll give the prize for the best sound to the composition of the same name with the album Smashing To The Ground. While the lyrics refer to a desperate declaration of love – perhaps not even unrequited, but the overall theme of the album and the sound of the song, along with the title, hint that nothing good will end – the real gold here is the work of the guitar coupled with the double bass. Together, these two instruments create a great hook and perfectly emphasize the vocalist’s work, especially in the chorus. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything complicated about it, but nevertheless, I haven’t heard anything more heartfelt on the album. Perhaps, as well as the authors themselves – after all, maybe that’s why this CD is called Smashing To The Ground.
And the most incendiary track of this record is called Romeo. He has a deep beat that makes every music lover shake his head to the beat of the song, and the text, in addition to another good story about cruel love, according to the canons of classic rock and roll, contains the line “dum-di-di-dum-di-dum-di-dum”, which does not carry any semantic load.”dum-dum.” It works as well as “wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom” worked half a century ago.
The latest Top Cats album is called Kick Down (2015), but perhaps I won’t focus on it. Yes, it contains the absolutely amazing Butterfly, but perhaps it, along with the already mentioned Kick Down, will be quite enough to highlight the strengths of the album. And the weak side is that Top Cats has somewhat lost that golden line between classic and novelty, and therefore a considerable number of tracks sound too new. And maybe even – I’m not afraid of this word – too pop. Fortunately, Sverigetopplistan can support my opinion: Kick Down took far from the first, but even the eighteenth place in it. Even the first two Top Cats albums were higher. And I probably agree with him: despite the fact that Kick Down contains the band’s current magnum opus, it’s still the band’s weakest record.
The good news here is that after Kick Down, the Swedes managed to record one EP and several singles – and, having realized their mistakes, they are still hitting without a miss. Returning to the sound of Smashing To The Ground, Top Cats now rather show a desire to focus on the classics, which sounds much better and more pleasant than flirting with modern trends. Of the six tracks, at least three should be singled out separately. First of all, it’s Rock This Town – yes, I mention this song simply because it’s called exactly the same as my favorite website. Secondly, Piece Of My Heart is the band’s latest single, released in 2018, and therefore it is an example of how Top Cats sound at a given time.
And thirdly, Stuck Under The Mistletoe (2016). Because it’s the band’s Christmas single, and sooner or later, you’re going to need it. At the time of writing, sooner rather than later. At the time of its publication, the devil knows. But anyway, I want to wish us all as much good music and talented bands as possible. Such as Top Cats. May they continue to play well, and may we continue to enjoy listening to them. Hallelujah!
Download Best Of Top Cats (Top Cats Best Songs) (mp3, 78 Mb)
Although it’s not called “neo-rockabilly,” it’s still more like “pop rockabilly.” Invented by German guys like The Baseballs and Dick Brave, it has taken root in Europe and is successfully used to this day. For me, these songs are still quite monotonous in their “hitness”, there is an obvious intention of the authors to write a hit, and not just a good song. Dick Brave is still closer to me, they did a real show at concerts, and they shot the videos with humor. Well, the Top Cats are great in terms of attracting girly backup dancers, but they’re all suspiciously decent and clean – like a boy band playing rockabilly. Or are all the guys like that in Sweden?
I still haven’t listened to either The Baseballs or Dick Brave. As for the monotony, the devil knows, that’s definitely not for me. That is, yes, I may well lose sight of such a moment… for many reasons. Well, as for the decent and clean ones, aren’t they all like that today? I mean, I’d love to hear more stories like how Gene Vincent tried to shoot glam rocker Gary Glitter, but nowadays even rap music doesn’t have that much detail anymore, let alone rockabilly…
yes, they are dudes, they play in terms of music for a wedding party, no more, everything is for sale in the Russian Federation, too, a lot
I repeat: It’s like something bad. It doesn’t really matter to me whether music is played for sale or for art, as long as it sounds good. Because it doesn’t matter what goals an artist pursues, it’s important what essence the listener, the viewer, and so on will extract for themselves. That’s the whole point of art.
But an opinion is an opinion – I don’t insist on my own and I don’t impose it on anyone. Thanks for the comment – we don’t have many of them!
I SUPPORT EVERYONE.A wonderful Swedish pop project. Today it’s our rockabilly. Beautiful, melodic, not A ROCKER, of course, but fun and funny.It would be sad if they were all married to each other. Like faggots. Let them sing…..