Alpha Cat – Pearl Harbor 2020

Elizabeth McColough’s story about this particular album is quite interesting. It makes me wonder about other artists and their stories about the recording process, various circumstances, fortunate and unfortunate events that somehow affected their songwriting and life. Elizabeth briefly explained everything about songwriting, composing, recording process but also thoroughly told the story about the people she met or worked with while she was still shaping Pearl Harbor. It’s one of those stories that would perfectly fit in the book format. Sadly, Pearl Harbor never received well-deserved airplay and closer attention of the broader audience. Luckily for all the admirers of soulful alternative rock music, Elizabeth decided to reissue Pearl Harbor by Alpha Cat.

Pearl Harbor is unquestionably one of those recordings that would fit any seasons, circumstances, moments, and moods. It’s a comprehensive amalgam of meaningful, emotional, soulful alternative rock compositions that are unveiling even more than meets the eye as the recording proceeds. This is not another simplistic alternative rock material. Quite the contrary, this record represents a collection of real-life stories, encapsulated and preserved from the moment they were written until now so they could shine bright on the spotlight. This material awaited appropriate time and new generations of audience devoted to pure alternative rock music, performed with so much sense for balance and melodies.

Still, Pearl Harbor explores much further than any alternative rock record has ever done before. Besides the sheer dominance of alternative rock, you may notice elements of indie, indie-rock, indie pop, power pop, alternative country, acoustic rock, art-rock, rock’n’roll, and grunge. These thoroughly incorporated ingredients are pervading from every possible direction, so each composition offers a slightly different vibe. Nevertheless, Pearl Harbor appears as a thoughtfully arranged collection, bounded by the unifying atmosphere. The well-planned arrangements, song structures, and performance by the entire group provides countless listening pleasures, and this is one of those albums you will proudly spin on your turntable every time.

From Elizabeth’s marvelous voice to the outstanding performance by the remaining portion of the band, Pearl Harbor represents late nineties alternative rock music in the brightest light, so this material sounds fresh even two decades after initial publishing. This version of the album offers two bonus numbers, recorded sometime during 1994 and 1995 on the 4-track. Such a neat addition to an already wonderful recording. Head over to the Alpha Cat’s official website for more information about ordering.