AMG Review of Please Come Back

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

Named for the Missouri trailer park where frontman George Hunter spent his formative years, Secretly Canadian indie rock trio Catfish Haven's debut EP, Please Come Back, is a surprisingly poignant ode to the innocent hedonism of youth. While the band's bare-bones delivery and garage rock sensibilities place them firmly in the tired, post-Nuggets wasteland of skinny guys with vintage amplifiers, their music eschews hipster irony for earnestness, channeling Buddy Holly and Del Shannon as opposed to the Standells. In fact, standout cuts like "You Can Have Me" and the blistering title cut show a band with both heart and soul, both of which are the only true benchmarks for rock & roll longevity.