TOMKAT
Denton, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
TOMKAT releases “Teardrops” today. The single is from Icarus, TOMKAT’s full-length album, slated to drop October 13. Based in Denton, Texas, TOMKAT is made up of Katrina Cain on vocals; Andrew McMillan on guitar; Mike Luzecky on bass; Trenton Hull on synthesizer; and Jonny Harmon sits in the pocket. Although the album was recorded in 2016, it sat in stasis until Hull entered the picture, adding the electronic essence the band desired.
Stylistically, TOMKAT skirts the edges of jazz, rock, pop and electronic dance music, blending degrees of each genre into a sound radiating dark resolves and the inhibiting prospect of psychological anguish.
“Teardrops” starts off with an ascending synth, followed by Cain’s inimitable voice and a crisp, shuffling groove. The melody emanates a measured R&B flow, along with hint of hip hop flavor set in a smooth electronic matrix, resulting in a cashmere dream pop sensibility. McMillan’s brightly shimmering guitar accents add highlights of brilliance, as the synth provides misty, sinuous, elegant energy. The harmonic themes intersect when the shuffling rhythmic components of the bass and drums merge with the liquescent synth and sparkling guitar. Cain’s voice is nonpareil, oozing gooey, molten sonic pyrotechnics that are simultaneously tantalizing, mesmerizing and colored with a textured sensual sonority. It’s a voice charged with spectral auditory gesticulations, free-floating monomers and high-rez exoticism. The combination of Cain’s evocative vocals and the radiant background vocals is delightfully delicious.
Ensconced in the lustrously gleaming melody, the lyrics of “Teardrops” go beyond time in the sense that emotion is beyond arithmetic, relating the anguish of a young woman camouflaging emotional collapse – “like teardrops on my mind” – behind a façade of sunny smiles.
TOMKAT most assuredly has it going on! The melody is lusciously contagious, emanating a hypnotic, memorable luminosity. The low-level groove shushes with narrative rhythm, allowing the synth and guitar to embed lozenges of subtle fluidics. And Cain’s inimitable voice, with its shades of exotic saffron and emerald, is spellbinding. Put simply, “Teardrops” is one of the best songs of the year. It’s already on the first tier of my personal playlist. - Huffington Post
When one thinks of Denton, TX bands, they're likely thinking of gritty country and rock and roll. We were met with quite a curveball when introduced to Denton outfit TOMKAT, however. Front woman, Katrina Cain, has more akin with artists like Kylie Minogue and Ellie Goulding than any Texas woman that might cross your mind. The music is lush and gorgeous, tapping jazz, pop, rock and EDM influences. The band's debut LP is called Icarus and is coming out this coming Friday. Check out the lead single "Teardrops" right here! - Paste
Entitled Icarus, TOMKAT have truly epitomized both the sound and spirit of their latest album in a single word. By relaying the messages of the great Greek myth through their ability to go against the genre grain, TOMKAT are flying high, yet the album is far from a tragedy. With the band’s supernatural synthetics and entrancing vocals, this is the perfect spooky soundtrack for this Halloween.
Describing their sound as somewhere between pop, jazz, rock, and dance, their unique sound consistently keeps you on your toes. With heartbeat drums and electrifying guitars, tracks ‘Pompeii‘ and ‘Human‘ showcase the band’s rockier side. Short but strengthy, both tracks are reduced in length, but ensure they pack a punch and leave a deep impression with both their heavy instrumental talent, as well as weighty lyrics.
Although a thoroughly rock feeling album, TOMKAT keep it quirky and distinctive with idiosyncratic synthesizers. Dropping subtle nods towards modern, electronic dance themes; distorted twangs give tracks like ‘Persephone’ a dark, ‘Stranger Things’ sounding undertone, whilst giving ‘Phoenix’ a remarkably eerie feel.
Despite its spectral sound, ‘Phoenix’ is perhaps one of the most compelling and influential tracks on the album. With the rock theme chilled out, the track’s simplicity is key, allowing the expressive lyrics and impeccable vocals to do the talking. A beautifully triumphant track singing “Once and for all, I rise; Once and for all, I’ll fly.” It’s plentiful in fulfillment.
Likewise to ‘Phoenix’, an attribute all nine tracks share are Katrina Cain’s immersive vocals. Silky yet fearless, her angelic innocence is radiant. Her featherlike voice strokes and softens each and every song, creating a phantom illusion. She is completely transfixing.
With the band’s complex sounds, rhythmic interplay, and their passion to experiment with genres, TOMKAT are already ahead of the game and the perfect future for modern music. - Track Rambler
October 13 is shaping up to be a banner day for some of the most anticipated releases of 2017. We’ve got St. Vincent’s Masseduction, Beck’s Colors, Carry Fire from Robert Plant and Icarus, the long-awaited debut album from Denton’s Tomkat. Turns out Huffington Post beat us to the punch when they premiered lead single “Teardrops” last week, hailing it as one of the best songs of the year. No hard feelings on our part, Huff Post. We’re just tickled pink to know there’s an elegant new star blooming brightly in the Little D firmament, and that the rest of the world is following suit. - 91.7 KXT Blog
Powered by the extraordinary voice of Katrina Cain, “Walls” is the very-first song that Denton, Texas’ Tomkat have unveiled. It surges like the sea in a tempest, its white caps and inky depths swirling in a majestic, striking and ever-changing landscape. You can be apprised of new releases from them by following their YouTube channel. - The Autumn Roses
Discography
Icarus- Released October 13th, 2017
Big Love EP- Released June 18th, 2015
Photos
Bio
For TOMKAT, a band based out of Denton, Texas whose work spends much of its time buried in the grey areas between pop, jazz, rock and dance music, the idea of coordinating complex sounds and musical meters is at the heart of their cross-genre investigations. Led by the haunting croon and ache of Katrina Cain’s voice, as well as the dynamic rhythmic interplay that exists within the band, TOMKAT are looking to express their native pop and electronic instincts without sacrificing their evolved temperament to the confines of a modern musical marketplace. Drawn from all areas of the country, the band was founded in 2015 by vocalist Katrina Cain (Connecticut), guitarist Andrew McMillan (El Paso), bassist Mike Luzecky (St. Louis) and drummer Jonny Harmon (Columbus) who first met as students at the University of North Texas.
TOMKAT's full length album, Icarus, was recorded in July of 2016 with Tanner Landry of Fort Worth Sound, though the music had been written and sat waiting for over a year prior. Cain, McMillan, Luzecky and Harmon had longed for a more electronic element than their current sound possessed, and found those pulsating and metronomic sounds with Trenton Hull (synthesizer), who joined the band for just one show and a handful of rehearsals prior to jumping with both feet into the studio. The songs on the album ebb and flow, with "Drowning" beating a dance pop spasm into your feet and others, like "Phoenix" soaring through your tired mind. No song should be taken more lightly than the other, however, as Cain's surprisingly dark lyrics attempt to convey the emotional and psychological issues surrounding the female experience through the ages. While "Teardrops" calls to mind a slow jam complete with '90s style vocal harmony, listen closely to the lyrics and you'll hear a woman struggling with crippling failure beneath a mask of smiles. Similarly, "Persephone's" hauntingly beautiful chords belie the true meaning, a story of incurable desire told not by the victim but by her abductor. Though the album is fraught with darkness and despair, the group keeps returning to a singular theme that blooms from the darkness with every track, ending in "Phoenix" resounding chorus: "Once and for all, I rise; Once and for all, I'll fly."
Band Members
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