For a few years in the mid-90s Policecat were the Sound of Young Scotland.
Hailing from Edinburgh the band was formed by brothers Gordon and Jonathan Kilgour, both on vocals and guitar, and Katrina Dixon on drums. Soon after their first gig John Harrington joined on bass.
This lineup would release the “Drown” 7″ in 1994 on Domino (RUG19). This 7″ single had “Drown” on the A side and “Bolder” and “Voodoo Hoedown” on the B side. The songs were produced and engineered by Warren McKean at Mighty Reel in Edinburgh. It mentions that all songs were recorded over two days at the cost of 190 pounds sterling. The artwork is credited to John Harrington.
In 1995 they would release “Larry”, a 10″ EP on Domino Records (RUG34T). This one had “Larry” and “Music for Pleasure” on the A side and “Classy” and “Tram 22” on the B side. Again the songs were engineered by Warren McKean at Mighty Reel. Barnaby Dellar added keuyboards to “Tram 22″ and Martin Lyndon added strings to both tracks on the A side.
Then in 1997 the band released a split single on Creeping Bent (BENT 024). The 7” version had Policecat’s song “Automobile” on the B side while The Secret Goldfish had “Give Him a Great Big Kiss” on the A side. On the CD version each band contributed two songs. The Secret Goldfish added “Pink Drone” while Policecat had “Five Miles of Bad Road”.
After this release Katrina would leave the band and was replaced by Scott Hall. This new lineup would record a 1997 Peel Session and two more singles in 1998.
The Peel Session also had Yvonne Slaven on keyboards. The producer was Mike Robinson and the engineer was Kevin Rumble. 4 songs were recorded on October 31, 1997: “Blue Movie”, “Give Us this Day”, “Dark Holiday” and “Lone Rider”. Will this get a release on Precious Recordings of London one day?
“Give Us this Day”, a 7″ on the American label Fantastic Records (FAN010), came out in 1998. This single included the title song on the A side and “As We Approach Harthill” on the B side. The A side was recorded at Cava in Glasgow with Gregor Reid as the engineer while the B side was recorded on a 4-track.
Lastly that same year on Creeping Bent they released another split 7″ with the band Appendix Out. It was part of the Singles Club and it was the eight release in the series (BENT 034). The song the band contributed was “Dark Holiday” while Appendix Out had “Lassie, Lie Near Me” on the A side.
The band also contributed songs to compilations. “Drown” was on a cassette comp called “Humpy Bosque” that Bosque Records (BOSC 008) released in 1994. “Midnight Cowgate” was on the cassette comp “A Fistful of Horsepower” that Vesuvius Records (POMP 005) put out in 1996. That same year, “Lone Rider” was included in the LP compilation “Noises from the Sound Cupboard” that Red Carpet Ring (RCR06) released.
This same label, Red Carpet Ring, would have their song “Fish Soup” on a double compilation LP, “With Singing, Orchestra and Harp (an International Gathering)” (RCR06) in 1999. Lastly, in 1999 too, “Automobile” and “Dark Holiday” were included in “Bentism (The Underground Sounds of Creeping Bent)”, a CD compilation on Creeping Bent (BENT040).
What else is worth mentioning: Well, that Gordon and Yvonne also released music as The Mongers while Policecat was active. Jonathan Kilgour performed and recorded with The Pastels around the time of their “Illumination” album. Katrina would later be on Sally Skull and Tender Trap (I remember seeing her live playing drums!). Also both Kilgour brothers played in The Zephyrs, Lunar Landing Module and Clipper. Gordon also released music as Gewgaws.
Lastly there’s a Soundcloud account that includes a demo version of “Drown” and a song I had never heard, “My Burd” that seems to be taken from a tape.
That’s what I could find, but I am sure many of you remember them. I’d love to learn more details about them and I’d love to listen to the Peel Session too! Please share your memories on the comments section!
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Listen
Policecat – Drown
