Cat the Dog were an English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in Brighton, East Sussex in 2005, consisting of Chris Melian (vocals/guitar), Andy Newton (drums), Dan Logan (bass guitar), and Daryl Pruess (lead guitar), all of whom attended

Brighton Institute of Modern Music BIMM University (BIMM) is a private university specialising in music, film, performing arts and creative technology. The university is principally based in the United Kingdom with other centres in Ireland and Germany. It is organised into five ...

. Chris Melian and Andy Newton moved in 2004 from Toronto to England. The band signed with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

after only three shows and BMG Music Publishing signed Cat the Dog to a long-term publishing deal. They were managed by Rob Swerdlow, Mark Nicholson and Dave Nicoll, who are also behind fellow Brighton band

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English indie rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The current lineup consists of Luke Pritchard on vocals and guitar, and Hugh Harris on bass, guitar, and synthesiser. Their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s Br ...

. Cat the Dog supported The Automatic and The Kooks, and recorded with producer Jack Douglas at Hook End Studios in Reading. They released singles "I'm a Romantic" and "Gotta Leave", and managed to get airplay on MTV's '' Spankin' New Music''. In November 2007 the band were involved in a near fatal car crash while travelling to their gig and had to escape from their van by breaking a window and climbing out. They soon split up in December 2007 after a tour with

Zico Chain Zico Chain is a rock band from London, United Kingdom, formed in 2002. To date, they have released two full albums entitled ''Food'' and ''The Devil in Your Heart'', a self-titled EP and an EP called ''These Birds Will Kill Us All''. The ba ...

. Immediately after the split, in January 2008 bassist Dan Logan briefly joined

in place of Max Rafferty; the latter would then form The Third Man with Cat the Dog drummer Andy Newton. In 2009, Cat the Dog vocalist Chris Melian joined the group The Hot Melts.

References

{{Reflist English indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2007