{"id":59104,"date":"2018-04-19T16:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T15:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=59104"},"modified":"2023-03-17T15:59:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T15:59:17","slug":"review-haggard-cat-challenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-haggard-cat-challenger\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Haggard Cat &#8211; Challenger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/994745.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-92819\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Haggard-Cat-Challenger.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>While <b>Haggard Cat<\/b> is being branded as a new musical project, its creators Tom Marsh and Matt Reynolds birthed the Cat in 2011. It\u2019s only the pair\u2019s choice to focus full-time on infamous hardcore group HECK that stopped them from releasing any music. Following HECK\u2019s breakup last year, their two-piece has become the priority once again.<\/p>\n<p>On their debut full-length album <i>\u2018Challenger\u2019<\/i>, Marsh and Reynolds showcase their desire to follow in the footsteps of the double-acts that came before them, while holding on to the chaos that made their former band one of the most discombobulating acts of our age. The result is a polyamorous marriage of punk, hardcore, garage rock and working man blues played with feverish hooks and a rawness where each detail down to the squeaks of Marsh\u2019s bass drum pedal plays a part in building the sound of this record.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Haggard Cat - American Graffiti\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DJtDu2wtAIo?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Of course, there are still plenty of HECK-isms they\u2019ve brought forth onto <i>\u2018Challenger\u2019<\/i>. You can hear it in the uncontrolled guitar solos in \u2018The Patriot\u2019 and scorched screaming across <i>\u2018Grave Digger\u2019<\/i>, but with <b>Haggard Cat<\/b>, Marsh and Reynolds emphasise the hip-shaking sing-along moments, like <i>\u2018American Graffiti\u2019s\u2019<\/i>\u00a0<i>&#8220;Bury your head, head in the sand, we\u2019ve got blood, got blood on our hands&#8221;<\/i> hooks, delivered with the leer of a drinking song taken too far, while the fuzz-drenched <i>\u2018Legend\u2019<\/i> is carried off with the grandeur of a Western soundtrack.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Challenger\u2019<\/i> is packed with sudden bursts of boogie-ready grooves that fuses the end result of years and trailblazing hardcore with a love of old QOTSA and Clutch. Admittedly, there aren\u2019t a whole lot of other ideas on display beyond that, but <b>Haggard Cat<\/b> aren\u2019t here to reinvent the wheel. It\u2019s two dudes letting off steam, and making a lot of noise in the process. And now that it\u2019s their full-time band, that noise can only get greater.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Challenger&#8217;<\/i> by <b>Haggard Cat<\/b> is released on 20th April on <b>Earache Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Haggard Cat<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/haggardcat.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HaggardCat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thehaggardcat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Andrew Davidson (<span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;@AndyrfDavidson&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:961,&quot;3&quot;:[null,0],&quot;9&quot;:1,&quot;10&quot;:1,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0}\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyrfDavidson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AndyrfDavidson<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Haggard Cat aren\u2019t here to reinvent the wheel. It\u2019s two dudes letting off steam, and making a lot of noise in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":92819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15033,14807,2242,15139],"class_list":["post-59104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-andrew-davidson","tag-challenger","tag-earache-records","tag-haggard-cat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Haggard Cat - Challenger - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Haggard Cat aren\u2019t here to reinvent the wheel. 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