Catherine Wheel: Like Cats And Dogs

Compilations of B-sides, imports and outtakes are always a risky gambit: If they weren't good enough for inclusion on an album, why release them at all And fans can either relish the thought of getting hard-to-find songs in one usually cheap package, or tear their hair out having already dished out craploads of cash for them. Occasionally, a B-sides collection can even prove as satisfying and cohesive as a new studio album: Refer to Archers of Loaf's recent The Speed of Cattle for an example. The same isn't true of Catherine Wheel's Like Cats and Dogs, which culls tracks from throughout the English band's six-year career. Unlike Catherine Wheel's most recent album, the overly metal-influenced Happy Days, most of this material is fortunately of the soft and elegant—but occasionally blustery—variety. But it's your standard mix of tossed-off covers (a rote rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"), feedback-drenched epics ("Saccharine," "These Four Walls"), and ballads that are so soft they're almost not there ("Car"). "Harder Than I Am" is a nice, melancholy ballad that would have fit nicely on Chrome, but aside from that and the strong opening track "Heal 2," not much here demands a place in the hearts of fans. Nothing's bad, but the uninitiated probably needn't bother.