Catholic Guilt
Can you See Me
Wiretap records
Catholic Guilt is a term very close to peoples hearts in Ireland, well those of us who are of a certain vintage anyway. Sonic Youth sang of a Catholic Block in the 90’s which many of us had over here. It was the name of an Irish hardcore band from the 80’s and summed up our young lives perfectly back then. Since those days so many harrowing tales have managed to find air and headspace in people which can only be a positive thing.
Melbourne’s Catholic Guilt may have nothing to do with those times but a name can lead to connection. The band consist of Brenton Harris (vocals), Dean Gordon (guitar/vocals), Megan Sidwell (guitar/vocals), Ben Caruana (bass) and Michael Condello (drums). The quintet combine elements of punk, alt, folk and rock, resulting in a sound they describe as ‘honest music’. The band released their debut EP, ‘Hymnbook Vol. 1’ independently in 2018 and followed it up in 2020 with ‘This Is What Honesty Sounds Like’ via Wiretap Records. ‘This Is What Honesty Sounds Like’ earned the band national and international airplay across over 130 stations and received widespread acclaim from outlets including Alternative Press, Music Feeds, Brooklyn Vegan, Pop Matters and landed them a coveted triple j Unearthed feature artist spot.
Drawing inspiration from the Australian indie and punk scene from the 2000s, Catholic Guilt’s “Can You See Me?” is a tale of lost identity and feeling at odds with yourself. Vocalist Brenton Harris explains: “For me personally, that feeling was brought on by a period of intense emotional and physical upheaval caused by a variety of interpersonal issues and a few serious life and career setbacks. All of these issues coalesced around the time of the lockdowns and ended up impacting life on the other side of it, resulting in me living life as a version of myself that felt so unfamiliar, so unconfident, so shaken, so entirely unlike ‘me’. Writing the song allowed me to process and heal and move onto the next evolution of ‘myself’. It’s our ‘feel sad hit of the summer’.” Of course it beoing Australia their Summer is our Winter, the perfect time to feel sad. It rocks along in a melodic way with a nice crescendo and sing along rockiness throughout.
“Can You See Me?” came out on Wednesday and streaming everywhere via Wiretap Records.
niallhope
