Cats On Fire

Cats on Fire, a shambling Finnish twee group whose nostalgic tunes nod to the Smiths, the Wedding Present, and the Orchids, thanks in no small part to lead singer Mattias Bjorkas’ warbly, Morrissey-esque croon, formed in Vasa, Finland, in 2001. The group underwent several lineup shifts in its formative years, but finally solidified in 2004 with Bjorkas, guitarist Ville Hopponen, bassist Kenneth Hoglund, and drummer Henry Ojala. The band’s first release, a four-track vinyl-only affair called Solid Work, came out on Elva Records in 2003, and was followed up in 2004 by an EP, Happiness Is Chemistry. Another EP, Drawing in the Reins, was released on Sweden’s Fraction Discs two years later. Cats on Fire were snapped up by Germany’s Marsh Marigold on the strength of that disc, and their debut full-length, The Province Complains, was released on that label in early 2007.