Ferment has more than stood the test of time; it doesn’t just feel as
fresh as when it was released 18 years ago; that’s a standard claim of
liner notes. No, Ferment sounds even better now, when there is a
comparable paucity of such bold, innovative, bashing-but-beautiful
melodic guitar rock, despite 100-times-more-numerous waves of
MySpace/Facebook-aided outfits keeping Gibson, Fender, and
Rickenbacker buzzing. And none of the Catherine Wheel’s contemporaries
from that remarkable 1992, fantastic as they were, ever burned as
elegiac bright as this tremendous band—especially on their first and
best record, their hands down masterpiece.
They still want to touch you. Ferment holds one enthralled, forever.
--Jack Rabid, editor and publisher, The Big Takeover, New York, January 29, 2010
