Today we’re pleased to announce the official North American release of “It Hertz!,” the debut album from Brighton’s synthpop heroes Katsen. From the moment I heard “Chequered Flag” and “Where Nobody Can Find Us,” I was instantly in love. Katsen’s sound reminds me at times of a casio-driven version of Section 25’s “From The Hip” or the upbeat moments of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “Architecture & Morality” re-recorded by Altered Images. And unlike many modern synthpop groups today, they don’t hide behind their electronics. They simply know how to write really fantastic pop songs and it shows on “It Hertz!”

The UK version of the album was released to rave reviews last month by Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. Our version has a slightly different track order and instead of The Pixies cover “Cactus”, we have their version of Black Box Recorder’s “Start As You Mean To Go On.” It’s pressed in a 6 panel digipack with amazing (and mind-blowing) cat collage artwork done by singer Donna Grimaldi (and modeled alongside our own cat, Xabi, below. He’s a Katsen fan!).

Listen to “Where Nobody Can Find Us”:
[dewplayer:http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/katsen.mp3]

Watch some videos:

$10.00 + shipping

Tracklisting:
1. Let’s Build A City
2. Chequered Flag
3. Start As You Mean To Go On
4. Island In An Island
5. What You Want
6. Drax
7. German Film Star
8. It Hertz!
9. Constellation
10. Where Nobody Can Find Us
11. I’m A Doctor
12. Florian

www.myspace.com/katsenbeeps