Novocastrian four-piece Jones The Cat are on a roll since taking out Unisounds 2017, the life-changing national band competition.
The indie-punk band have been steadily making waves in the music scene with their blistering anthems. Now, they’ve just released two searing new singles ‘I Want You Still’ and ‘Time Waster’.
We sat down with frontman Jack Waterson to delve into these meaty new tracks, and discuss the lasting impact that winning UniSounds has had on the band.
The two new singles are punchy and gritty. They recall the old-school emo sensibilities of Jimmy Eat World and The Used, told through a uniquely Australian lens.
Waterson describes ‘I Want You Still’ as “the angriest love song possibly anyone’s ever written.” You can hear it too, the track expertly confronts the frustrations of being in a long-term relationship with the kind of frenzied sounds that gobble you up ears first.
Accompanying track ‘Timewaster’ is a fervent, angsty pop-punk classic in the making. The track explores the trials and tribulations of being in a band, and the anxieties that come part and parcel with writing a song.
“So I write the songs,” he offers. “And generally what will happen is I come up with this complete idea of, ‘This is the thing I want to do’.
“I can already hear how it’s going to work and how I’d like it to work and then I have to sell that to three other people. All the many little compromises through it get really frustrating with what you’re doing.”
He continues, “The humour of writing a song about writing a song, is – I just couldn’t turn it down.”
Jones The Cat tapped ARIA award-winning producers Peter Holz (Gang Of Youths, Peking Duk, Vance Joy) and Simon Berckelman (Dune Rats, Andy Bull, Art Vs. Science) for the two tracks.
Both Holz and Berckelman knew exactly how to further craft the quintessential Jones The Cat sound. In fact, the production process was one of the most collaborative and exacting the band had ever experienced.
“We’d never really recorded that well,” says Waterson. “It’s sort of been a long-running debate where just from the different types of music we listen to, I have always been [advocating] ‘we should get in a room and play this live.’ That’s how we do it.
“But it was more precise and accurate and more good-erer,” he laughs, “once we did it in layers and layers and layers. It was awesome to work with those guys.”
The chance to work with producers of this calibre wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Unisounds. Jones The Cat took out the highly coveted award back in October last year.
The Unisounds program offers emerging Australian acts the opportunity to win a life-changing grant. Paving the way for aspiring musicians and shaping the future of Australian music. Waterson even described winning the grant as “an absolute Godsend”.
The Unisounds prize offers its winner an international recording and release deal with Dine Alone Records (Alexisonfire, Dashboard Confessional), a promotional package and an opportunity to play a Uni tour – which Waterson was most chuffed about.
“When they told us we were going to go on a Uni tour I was so stoked that there was a tour and I didn’t have to book. That was the best bit.”
Jones The Cat’s latest singles ‘Timewaster’ and ‘I Want You Still’ are out now through Dine Alone Records.
