"Hammer + Echo"

Getting their start in the early '80s, the Kilkenny Cats were one of the most fascinating bands at a time when there were a lot of fascinating bands around. Formed by the North Carolina born Tom Cheek, who had relocated to Athens, Georgia for college, the Kilkenny Cats played a dark and moody blend of post-punk and psychedelia that still, after all these years, feels decidedly timeless. Here's what I mean by that--sometimes when you listen to a band you can hear the years they existed. We won't name. names, but you know what I mean--however, when it comes to the Kilkenny Cats, their music was so singular, they elude the timeline. Although their fellow city dwelling comrades ranged from REM to Pylon to Love Tractor, they were their own thing. Alive with jangling guitars, prowling basslines, foreboding drums and sonorous vocals, the Kilkenny Cats' music was awash in mystery and maybe that's why all these years later, they still sound as pressingly relevant as ever. They were a beloved live act, they had a deal with Twin/Tone, played shows with REM and Husker Du and then? Well, then decades of silence. Why? Well, that's what we're here to figure out and Tom Cheek walks us through it all. Spoiler alert: The 'Cats are back and more music in addition to the wonderful expanded reissue of 1988's Hammer + Echo, will be coming. I'll let him explain.

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