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Teen-Beat 167.

Cath Carroll

True Crime Motel

SIDE ONE

Easter Bunny Song
Into Day
I Know
True Crime Motel
Mississippi River Factory Town

SIDE TWO

Jimmy's Candy
Just Once
L'amour C'est Ca
Lullaby for a Steeplejack
Breathe for Me

This Is Not Currently Available

LINER NOTES

PLAYERS

Cath Carroll, vocals

Nicholas Markos, acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, percussion

Marcos Sueiro, Keyboards, backing vocals, tambourine

John Maier, Drums, congas

Kerry Kelekovich, bass guitars, shaker, backing vocals

GUEST PLAYERS

John Carpenter, backing vocals on "Steeplejack"

PRODUCED BY

Cath Carroll,

and Kerry Kelekovich

RECORDED BY

John Carpenter,

at Thunderclap Recording, Hammond, Indiana, USA

MIXED BY

Kerry Kelekovich

MASTERED BY

David Radin,

Trutone, Newark, New Jersey, USA

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Uncle Klickie

INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Tom Allen

COVER DESIGN

George Kalantzis

DESIGN PRODUCTION

Mark Robinson,

and Rob Myers

ET CETERA

All songs written by Cath Carroll ©1995.
except "Mississippi River Factory Town" by Cath Carroll and Beatleplex ©1995.
and "Into day" written by Cath Carroll ©1994.
"L'Amour C'est Ca" origin unknown.

Cath's band is referred to in the liner notes as "Beatleplex".

The songs' lyrics are included in the CD booklet.

"Thanks to:
Mark Robinson
Kate Carpenter,
Todd Winters,
Christine Simpson,
Joe Shanahan,
Cynthia P. Caster,
Ken Janssen,
Peter Kousathanas,
Steve Goulding,
Ellen Stewart,
Matthew Payne,
Gaw O'Hara,
Caravan,
Brendan Duffy.

REVIEWS

Fusing the limpid loopy melody ambiance of Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack with the gritty flavour of a modern urban noir thriller.
- Paul Davies, Q Magazine

Her lyrics, impressionistic and surprising, paint pictures whose messages fade in and out of focus-but are always intriguing to gaze at.
- Anthony DeCurtis, Men's Journal

Singing in a cool, understated voice that's closer in feel to Sade's than Courtney Love's, and backed by subtle Caribbean rhythms, this erstwhile British chanteuse doesn't sound like anybody else in the indie-rock world, and that's a major plus. The melodies are smoky and subtle, as is the voice, and the rhythms are perfect for swaying on a hammock. But don't get too comfortable - Carroll's tales of romantic burnout have a nasty little bite to them.
- Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune

A clutch of songs which wouldn't seem out of place on a Gram Parsons album...if Elvis Costello arranged it, and Debbie Harry washed up the dishes.
- Dave Thompson, Alternative Press

The former Miaow singer relocated to the states a few years ago and, after experimenting with South American rhythms, she's checked into a cheap motel where every door, staircase and hallway echoes with some character's story . . . Carroll's hushed and expressive voice is perfect for these low-rent tales, spreading an opium-like sense of calm, particularly on the gorgeous 'I Know' and 'Into Day'.
- Steve Malins, VOX Magazine

Recently, Cath Carroll is probably most recognized as the cover star on Unrest's final album, Perfect Teeth, but she has quite an impressive, if little-known, musical career: as the leader of the early `80s Factory band Miaow and as an NME writer. True Crime Motel, her first solo album, follows two 7" singles on Teen Beat, and it's a fuller expression of her musical talents. The focal point of True Crime Motel's 10 songs is Carroll's smooth, sultry voice, which meshes seamlessly into the folds of her effervescent songs. Her voice is so low-key that her lyrics are often hard to decipher, but her tone makes her sound like a dark cousin to Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl. This really comes to the fore on the spare "I Know," where in a hushed tone she sings, "We were always driving through the night/Past city miles and orange lights and/Texaco, Amoco, Mobil," stringing out the surprisingly poetic-sounding gas station names as if they were pregnant with suggestion. Also like Thorn, Carroll infuses her piano-centric songs with jazzy motifs, but they're worked into a less straight-jazz, clearly more pop mold. The album's final cut "Breathe For Me," with its sprightly acoustic/electric guitar interplay, soars above the rest, as does the swanky "Mississippi Factory Town," which almost turns into a jubilant, piano-based pop song by its end. The beautiful "L'Amour C'est ca," sung in luscious French, is also a lovely setting for Carroll's mood-evoking vocals.
- C.M.J.

RELEASE DATE

August 15, 1995

FORMAT

compact disc
vinyl L.P.

LENGTH

CD:
44 minutes, 3 seconds

LP:
44 minutes, 3 seconds

CATALOGUE No.

Teen-Beat 167

DETAILS

LP

August 15, 1995

1,500 pressed.

JACKET:
full-colour.

LABELS:
black ink on white paper.

FIRST CD PRESSING

August 15, 1995

4,000 pressed.

INSERT:
12-page booklet and tray card (one side colour and one side black and white).

JEWEL CASE:
with black tray.

LABEL:
blue and black.

SECOND CD PRESSING

September 20, 1995

500 pressed.

LABEL:
same.

LP and CD:

Printed and pressed by
Specialty, Olyphant, Pennsylvania.

Distributed by Matador Records, New York, New York.

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

Beast
Moves Like You
My Cold Heart
Bad Star
Free
True Crime Motel 2001
The Gravity Within
Snobears
Desiree Won't Come Down
It All Looks Good On You

ALBUMS

England Made Me
True Crime Motel
Cath Carroll (Glommer)
The Gondoliers of Ghost Lake

COMPILATIONS

The Last Temptation of Elvis
Select FAC 305c
Palatine, The Factory Story, Vol.4, Selling Out
Wakefield: Volume 2
Wakefield: Volume 3
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
1996 Teenbeat Sampler
1997 Teenbeat Sampler
Forever Dusty
Black Music / Atlantic Crossing
The Factory Box Set

ALSO

Permission to use likeness on Teen-Beat 119
Teen-Beat Circus Tour
Teen-Beat's 10th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 11th Anniversary

RELATED

Glass Animals
The Hit Parade
Miaow
Property of...

SONGS

All Our Lives
All Our Lives (Epilogue)
Angel
Average & Unsaved
Bad Star
Beast on the Streets
Blood Roar
The Boy From Islamorada
Breathe for Me
The Circle Bends
The Divine Miss A.
Dunvant Junior Prayers
Easter Bunny Song
England Made Me
Falling Over Tomorrow
Free
Giving In
The Gravity Within
Green Grows the Ground
I Know
I Remember the Sun
In the White Room
In Your Own Way
Into Day
Jimmy's Candy
Just Once
King Creole
L'amour C'est Ca
Leaving Song
London, Queen of My Heart
Lullaby for a Steeplejack
Man Goes Down the Highway
Mississippi River Factory Town
Montana Moon
Moves Like You
Moves Like You (12" Version)
Moves Like You (7" Version)
My Cold Heart
Mystified
Next Time
Next Time (He's Mine)
No Easy Way Down
Send Me Over
Subtitled
This Is How We Fall
To Close Your Eyes Forever
Too Good To Live
Train You're On
True Crime Motel
Unforgettable
Watching You
What Are You Doing
Yellow Garden
You Know It's You