Credit: Jace Kartye
December 5, 2023: Fifty years to the day after Wings’ classic Band On The Run LP hit shelves, Fantastic Cat has teamed up with all-star producer Butch Walker to release their vocal-trading, instrument-swapping take on the iconic title track, out now via Blue Rose Music. Captured in a freewheeling session at Walker’s studio outside Nashville, TN, the track finds Fantastic Cat—the new collaborative project from critically lauded songwriters Brian Dunne, Anthony D’Amato, Don DiLego, and Hollis Brown’s Mike Montali—putting their typically riotous spin on things, playing musical chairs as they hand off lead vocals, layer up dense harmonies, and switch instruments midway through the song.
“We love shining a light on obscure artists like this that no one’s really heard of before,” the band said in a joint statement released through their court appointed lawyer. “For our part, we first discovered Paul McCartney through a 2018 episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden, and we’ve been enjoying digging into his back catalog ever since. While it might be a bit of a ‘hot take,’ we think he’s easily one of the most talented members of Wings.”
Hailed by Rolling Stone as “the supergroup-you-need-to-know,” Fantastic Cat first arrived in the summer of 2022 with their rollicking debut, The Very Best of Fantastic Cat, which landed the New York four-piece their national TV debut on CBS Saturday Morning alongside sold-out headline dates and festival appearances throughout the US and Europe. Rolling Stone called the album “a wildly satisfying collection of folk-rock, country, Americana, and good old rock & roll,” while American Songwriter dubbed the songs “harmony-swapping heartbreakers,” and No Depression celebrated their “cathartic, life-affirming fervor.”
Individually, each member of Fantastic Cat boasts their own impressive resume along with a litany of acclaim. NPR said Anthony D’Amato “sings and writes in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen or Josh Ritter.” No Depression dubbed Don DiLego’s latest album “a masterpiece.” Rolling Stone called Brian Dunne’s new record “one of the sleeper albums of the year” and praised Mike Montali’s band, Hollis Brown, as “the soundtrack for a late-night drive through the American heartland.” Collectively, though, the four transcend their respective roots, emerging as a righteous, raucous rock and roll cooperative far greater than the sum of its parts.
The band will close out the year with a headline show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on December 17. Tickets are on sale now.
Follow Fantastic Cat:
Website – Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Spotify
Comments
Pingback: Go Now: RIP Denny Laine of The Moody Blues, Wings and Ginger Baker’s Air Force, by Steve Stav – East Portland Blog