Carl and the Passions - "So Tough"

6. Dennis' songs here, like in Friends, tend to be the worst of the entire album. In CATP's case, they downgrade it.

Wow-your negative opinion of Dennis’s tunes shocks me! I love those ones on both albums

7/10

The interim step between Surf’s Up and Holland feels sort of half baked to me. I think there are some great songs on it (Here She Comes, Marcella, All This is That, Make it Good, which I prefer it over Cuddle Up, but Cuddle Up is also nice.) It’s a nice listen all the way through, nothing I want to skip. Like I said with Holland, I think the addition of Blondie and Ricky was a good idea and here it’s a step in the right direction, but they don’t find themselves as a unified group until Holland. And of course, CATP is way too short. Knowing what they had lying around, left off Surf’s Up, it’s unfortunate that they held back.

To clarify, I cited these specific albums in which I dislike Dennis' songs. I like his songs in Sunflower, 20/20, Holland.

The last of their "revered albums" I've gotten around to checking out--but here I am, finally! 

I agree with the consensus that Blondy and Ricky added a much-needed vitality to the band. No longer does it feel like disparate factions vying for attention as was the case in their Friends thru Surf's Up era. However, this new group dynamic has yet to really work out all the kinks yet either. You can see the flashes of greatness that will culminate in Holland the next year, but it's held back by some mediocre tracks. It's a small step in the right direction after the dreary and patched together Surf's Up, which in my opinion felt like the band trying to be cool as opposed to finding their own voice. They haven't quite found it here on CATP either, but they're getting closer.


I like the grunge "down and dirty" sound of You Need a Mess of Help. This aesthetic served them well on their best 70s material, from Holland to Pacific Ocean Blue (I know it's a Dennis solo, but regardless) and even Love You retains it albeit with synthesizers. This feels like the group properly evolving with the times as opposed to 15BO and their post-LY material constantly pretending it was still '62. 

Here She Comes has a suaveness to it, kinda reminiscent of Billy Joel or Van Morrison's Moondance to my ears. I wish the lyrics were a bit "punchier" but overall I like it. 

He Comes Down is way too heavy handed on the religious stuff for my tastes. I'm sorry but I'm not a big fan of gospel music, nor having it be so blatant and in my face. I just don't like the aesthetics of christian rock or gospel music.  

Marcella is pretty good, but I'm not a fan of the chorus ("hey yeah Marcella!") That could have used a rewrite. 

Hold On Dear Brother sounds kind of half-baked. It's too slow and vaguely country-sounding for my tastes. It also goes on at least 2 minutes longer than it has a right to, considering how one-note it is. If I was flipping through the radio and heard this I would skip past it, and on future listens I imagine myself skipping it too. 

Make It Good is a breath of fresh air after the last terrible song. It reminds me of the last track on Keepin' the Summer Alive. It's only as long as it needs to be and doesn't overstay its welcome like the last three tracks did.

All This is That recaptures the magic of the first two tracks before the album began going off the rails a bit. I love the backing track. 

Cuddle Up is a nice ballad. It feels like the album began with a hard edge but the narrator slowly peeled back the layers of their shell with each song and here they're allowing himself to be truly vulnerable. It's far from the best tender romantic slow song the group ever did, but it's nice. 


Overall, I give it a 6. The album starts off great with its first two tracks and then loses its way. I applaud them for trying some new styles but the lyrics and chord progressions leave much to be desired. The last two tracks start to work back up to the quality of the beginning before the album ends abruptly. 

I hate the cover and the name. The former looks like a cheap and tacky postcard you'd see at an airport or sea resort giftshop. As I recall from the Catch a Wave biography, CATP was a name they'd used in school or their earliest stage as a band. So...okay...but why break it out here? Why use it as an album title? It feels so random. 

7.5. The "four singles" album. Uneven as all hell, but Brian's songs shine and Dennis' aren't far behind. 

Ditto. "Mess Of Help" rules!

I reckon this album has a very groovy element to it. Happy to love it. I gave it a 7.

Make It Good
Cuddle Up

I find it interesting that CATP has a few similarities with two particular earlier BBs albums.  First of all, the fast side/slow side format is reminiscent of Today, although that album is in a whole different league.

Then it could be said that CATP is an early 70s version of Wild Honey.  A collection of straight ahead, sometimes R&B based rockers.  The production is stripped down some from the previous album.  Gone is the big, dense production of numbers like Surfs Up, Feel Flows, etc.  And the album is noticeably short, much like WH.

CATP - which I always think of as almost indivisible from Holland, seemed to mark a creative, new frontier for them.   

Ummmm, which part?