Music

The Cat Empire

Two Shoes (Feb. 6)
4 stars

Patrick Donnelly

If that insidious Gnarls Barkley song could infect America’s collective consciousness last summer, there’s no way we can avoid “Sly,” a positively addictive slice of funky, soulful sunshine from Australia’s The Cat Empire. Two Shoes is no one-hit wonder, however—brass and keyboards carry the steady party groove from start to finish, with a heavy Latin influence coming through the speakers every step of the way. Recorded at the same Havana studio that launched the Buena Vista Social Club, this is the most welcome Cuban import since El Duque Hernandez, and the tastiest licks you’ve ever heard from the land down under.

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