Cat Vs Bear are a Cardiff based lo-fi/alt-acoustic /rock band, well kind of. They’re all about creating good songs, recorded them in the most part themselves and capturing an essence of a story, a feeling, perhaps a long forgotten memory.

They’ve been busy in 2011 recording a DIY album that they’ve called ‘Year of the threatened rabbit’. Rumoured to at one point have been an experimental Rabbit based concept album that went wrong or right depending on your tastes.

‘Year of the threatened rabbit’ is a collection of 8 carefully crafted songs firmly rooted in an alt-rock tradition but not identifiable to one specific sound or genre. ‘It’s a laidback offering, we kind of just turned on the machine and what came out, came out.’ says guitarist Kiki Bridges.

The album has a strong acoustic guitar foundation with other instruments adding texture and colour. The band used Circuit bent toy keyboards, South American wind instruments and even a shopping trolley for percussion. The ethos of the album was pretty much if it feels right do it, and they did.

Here is a track by track breakdown of the album:

‘Year of the threatened rabbit’ – It’s a very short acoustic track, charming and wistful, questioning the value of one’s own life achievements.

‘It’s all gone wrong but death will eventually obscure our mistakes’ – The single for the album, featuring falsetto vocals, a circuit bent keyboard solo, and a good measure of hand claps. Lyrically it’s the narrative of a life gone wrong to the point of no return, and someone walking away from something they can no longer love.

‘52 Flora Street’ – One of the three tracks recorded in a professional studio as opposed to someone’s kitchen or lounge. Perhaps the fastest paced song on the album, slightly strokes influenced and recorded on the same analogue tape machine used for Nirvana’s bleach album!

‘Mercury 7’ – Partly about the astronaut Alan Sheppard and partly about someone a band member worked with this track features some haunting South American instrument and a dark dual distorted lead vocal. This has got atmosphere you can bag up and sell.

‘Spooked’ – A live favourite and again recorded in a big fancy studio, this track shows off Christoph Polini’s vocals, and one of the few guitar solos of the album. Don’t miss the Watership down tribute at the start!

‘Propagate’ – Definitely the noisiest and heaviest track of the album, quite Pixiesque at times, a sneering shout out against Religion.

‘Return to Nietzsche’ – This song started off as nothing more than a very clever song title, then turned into a brooding dark mid paced grower, features the line ‘Obviously God is dead’

‘Foundling Blues’ – The most mellow laid back song on the album, inspired a bit I suppose by Simon and Garfunkel, and features some nice lead guitar licks. Tackles the tale of foundlings, babies abandoned on door steps and a never satisfied search for belonging and identity.