Wild Cat - The Swiss Edge

Cold Love EP (1988? - own label)
This is the debut EP (I assume) from Wild Cat, a band centered around Swiss-born songer/singwriter René Vetterli. Already on this release the Wild Cat essentials appear in full force: guitar-based hard-rocking songs, sung with a voice uncomparable to almost anything else in rock'n'roll. Vetterli's unorthodox melodic choices and penetrating Swiss/German accent is stamped all over the four songs, and lifts them up to a level where the rules of musical quality has begun to float. The result is sometimes mind-numbing, as on I'm A Dreamer ("sitting all alone, drinking more and more cocktails, on my own"), with a unique vocal urgency, sincerity and strangeness. To call this quirky is like calling Hasil Adkins a strange man. Don't miss this EP if you like your toast with a twist!

RRRoaring Thru Hell (1996 - own label)
Wild Cat's first full-length CD, and it fulfills any expectations you may have got from the previous releases. Vetterli is back with a collection of well-constructed and rocking tunes. Both Silverhorse (a motorcycle song, and a good one, too) and Making Love Is Dynamite are solid songs that you'd love to hear on, say, the nearest pub. The highlight, however, is Hey Baby Looking For A Lucky Star ("Hey honey, don't look far - I'm your lucky star!") a hilariously self-assured and a little cock-rocking song, but not exactly Aerosmith (and thank God for that!). Otherwise, the production is fresh and pretty raw, and all in all a fine introduction to the Wild Cat experience. But for a full-fledged Wild Cat attack I'd go for the Cold Love EP.

No Need For Tears EP (1997 - own label)
Wild Cat ceased to exist as a band a couple of years after the Cold Love EP was released, and Vetterli continued with the help of session musicians. Several years has went by since the first EP, and the two songs featured here are kind of different compared to the earlier Wild Cat recordings. Both Children's Cry and Mummy are slower ballads, and the production is a little smoother. Lyrically, the songs are also on the more mellow side. Children's Cry has a certain 'we-are-the-world'-feeling to it, while Mummy ("You are the pearl of my life, I'll always stand by you. Mumma I love you.") seems to be extremely personal and sincere. I like the rockier Wild Cat better, and these songs can't match the awesomeness of the first EP. Still special, though.

High Flyer 3-song video (1995 - own label)
This Wild Cat video is also available, collecting three videos, all shot on separate occasions: Cold In Winter (1992), I'm A Dreamer (1994) and Children's Cry (1995). Grainy footage, cheap video effects, lo-fi sound - I can't really say that these videos add anything essential to any of these songs.

All Wild Cat material can be ordered from:
René Vetterli
8 Janita Place
Bossley Park
NSW 2176 AUSTRALIA

Copyright © 1998 Knut Tore Breivik