Track Listing

1. Mulder And Scully
2. Game On
3. I Am The Mob
4. Road Rage
5. Johnny Come Lately
6. Goldfish And Paracetamol
7. International Velvet
8. Why I Can't Stand One Night Stands
9. Part Of The Furniture
10. Don't Need The Sunshine
11. Strange Glue
12. My Selfish Gene

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39162 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-02
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
So finally, everyone realised what all the fuss was about. International Velvet saw Catatonia finally go overground, mainly down to the success of "Mulder And Scully", which stormed the charts when it was released and became an instant karaoke classic. There's much more to the album than the X Files' resident alien worriers though: "I Am The Mob" is a highlight, including the unforgettable line "Stop blowing the Don, put his kecks back on", while "Strange Glue" sees them in a more reflective, broken-hearted frame of mind. Undoubtedly a singles album, every song here stands up on its own. "Road Rage" is pure guitar filled pop, while "My Selfish Gene" has such a broken, torch singer quality, you could almost imagine Cerys singing it into her gin in a deserted Parisian piano bar. But it's the title track itself which sees the band refusing to be anyone but themselves, as they bluster "Every day / when I wake up / I thank the Lord I'm Welsh". If their nationality plays any part in how they sound, we should be thankful too. --Emma Johnston

Customer Reviews

best record in the whole wide world ever
This record changed my life. No, it really did. Some might say that Catatonia "sold out" when they made this album, but if this is what selling out does, I only wish more bands would do it. From the opening guitars of the ultimate pop tune "Mulder and Scully" the album goes from strength to strength. The melodies are beauties, there are so many textures of sounds and the lyrics can mess with your head more than any intoxicating substances. And I know its been said before, but Cerys' voice is so beautiful and can move me to tears if I'm not making futile attempts to imitate it. Each song is an absolute masterpiece on its own, from the very original and understated "Goldfish And Paracetemol" to the gorgeous songs that deserve to be up with the best of power ballads, "Strange Glue" and "My Selfish Gene". Its a great shame that people put Catatonia down so much and didn't actually listen to the music, because they had something very very special. All of the albums are great, but this one is just better than amazing. I'd give it 5 million stars if I could. Buy it.

Every day that I wake up - I thank the Lord for Catatonia
I felt I just had to put my 5* review in here as I thought it was scandalous that this album was rated lower than Way Beyond Blue (Cerys and the boys' previous album). Yes, Way Beyond Blue is a good disc, but International Velvet is simply fabulous.

Every song is a belter from the poppy hit Mulder And Scully to the driving rock of Road Rage to the plaintive cry of Strange Glue. Cerys' captivating voice is surely one of the most original in modern rock (shown to good effect on the sparse My Selfish Gene) and her lyrics are fantastically off-the-wall. Is there a better opening couplet for a song than "I put horses heads in peoples' beds; Cause I am the Mob"? And I bet if I understood Welsh I'd like the lyrics to International Velvet, but the (English) chorus is great singalong stuff nevertheless (cod Welsh accent optional).

Give yourself a treat and buy this album to hear some great songs played well by a truly original band at the very top of their form.

STRONG STUFF!!!
This album never sells for less then a fiver on bootfairs even (when the stall next door is selling everthing for 20p) and, having got my own copy at last, I understand why. This album contains virtually all the songs I love from this band.
The Welsh singing voice can sometimes be a beautiful thing, and none is more beautiful then that of Caerys (spelling?) Matthews. She can either sound amazingly delicate and sweet or gloriously angry and grrr.