Christine’s Cat – Like a Summer’s Day

Christine’s Cat – Like a Summer’s Day EP

(Windmill Records)

10″ Vinyl

Available from 7th April

Christine’s Cat, possibly the most obscure and curious act on Sarah Records, have their recordings compiled for the first time.

Until recently, barely anything was known or had been written about Christine’s Cat, in fact, it was only when Jane Duffus was putting together the magnificent, These Things Happen: The Sarah Records Story, did the Christine, owner of the cat, give her first interview. Their solitary release, until now was the, ramshackle lo-fi, Your Love Is… which only appeared on a 5″ Flexi Disc released with a Sarah Records Fanzine in 1989 and has been known to sell for over 3 figures in the past, although it did more recently got another release on Cherry Red’s 2018 boxset C89.

So who were Christine’s Cat? For a long time it was suspected it could be the project of Sarah Records founders Matt and Claire… As Jane says on her sleeve notes, “a band who never played live, who gave no interviews until 2023, and who had no credits – or even a cover – on their lone one-track flexi in 1989”. What we do now know is the band featured Robert Smith on guitar and vocals, Kenny Forte on guitar and Christine Grant on vocals.

I’m sure there were many bands who had one off flexi’s released during the 80’s, whose names have been long since forgotten, but it’s the fact that the Glaswegian trio were signed to Sarah Records, whose legacy and appeal only ever seems to grow does the interest remain. The Like a Summer’s Day EP contains 4-tracks, including Your Love Is…, which were recorded in Robert’s bedroom some 36 years ago. At the time Christine was singing with a group called The Exceptions, and Kenny and Robert were in The Golden Dawn. Jane explains, “Once Robert heard Christine’s vocals, he thought that it would be a good idea to add female vocals to some new music he had written and, in a nutshell, this is how Christine’s Cat came to be.” The trio, working collectively, recorded five songs in one day. Unfortunately, only the four on this release remain, the fifth, for now at least, will be a mystery, as it the current whereabouts of Smith.

As you’d expect for something recorded in a bedroom it is quite raw with a very live feeling and is definitely of it’s time, occasionally the vocals may be a little high in the mix or the tambourine may be on the verge of distraction however this adds to the charm. There’s a quality to this release and it’s a shame that Sarah Records only released one track.

So why should anyone care? As Jane asks, “Why do we love listening to previously unheard of songs from a little-known band?” I initially would point to the Tiny Global release of the Eilidh Bradley Project last year. Four tracks which had been recorded by members of Primal Scream, The Fall, Dub Sex and The Smiths backing Eilidh which would have been consigned only to their collective memories if a cassette of the session hadn’t been found in the bottom of a wardrobe. As us Indie Pop Kids grow older, we still have treasured recollections of our youth. 40 years on I still get a thrill hearing The Mighty Lemon Drops Like An Angel as it crackles and pops though my speakers like it’s 1985. Hearing these unearthed nuggets from Christine’s Cat for the first time has that capacity to take you back.

If you’re a C86 fan then this will be of interest to you. All credit to Jane Duffus channelling her inner Adela Breton and discovering the existance of these recordings whilst working on These Things Happen and tracking down Christine Grant, and also Chris Mabbs and Neil Shumsky for resurrecting the Windmill Records label for this release…

The Like a Summer’s Day EP will be available to order from Bandcamp and Windmill Records

Images used with permission of Windmill Records

All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him on Bluesky