Singapore Monster Cat band is out of the bag
Print Edition
ALL the three members of Monster Cat, an alternate rock band from Singapore, say they have a penchant for furry, impolite kittens.
Impolite they may be in their music, but furry and kitten-like, they are not.
Fans will have a chance to decide for themselves on March 13 when vocalist Hentai Cat, guitarist Psycho Cat and drummer Meta Cat (they never use their real names) perform at Yuyintang in Shanghai.
The band, known for delicate instrumentation and intense images, is staging a China tour and performing in this year’s JUE (Awakening) music and arts festival in Shanghai.
“We wanted to create an exciting and emotional sonic trip, that aims to give the listener new perspectives on the rock paradigm,” says Hentai Cat
He says the band, formed in 2010, “echoed the anxieties and tensions of an increasingly embittered Singapore society.”
He calls Singapore “a young society of mixed Asian heritage and colonial history that was trying to find its identity and cultural value in the world amid strict laws, suffocating social constructs and a widening income gap shadowed by the nation’s zealous economic growth policies.”
Psycho Cat, 29, who once worked in Shanghai at an advertising agency, says the city is “exciting, bustling and an intriguing mix of new and old, much like Singapore ... There’s a constant tension between progress and heritage, which makes for an interesting backdrop where young locals and expatriates start to build their own new culture and ideas for what Shanghai and China should be.”
The band will perform songs from their new album “The Violet Hour,” which features 13 tracks that draw on psychedelic, alternative rock and various other styles. The record creates intense, melodic rock songs, while, keeping the band’s trademark vocal harmonies.
They will also perform songs from their 2011 debut EP “Mannequins.”
“We can’t wait to find out how audiences in Shanghai will react,” the band said in a statement.
In a very short time, the band has been voted “Artist of the Week” on MTV’s global indie music site, opened for the UK live wire act the Noisettes, recorded with Steve Lillywhite, and earned a shout-out from industry guru Bob Ezrin.
“Back in 2010, we were disillusioned by our impending graduation into the absurdity of Singaporean white-collar life,” says Psycho Cat. “We decided to get together to work on the only thing that gave us a sense of hope — music.”
A year after it was formed, the band released “Mannequins” and exploded onto the small but enthusiastic Singapore indie scene.
“We have always preferred to create songs that are free for interpretation, where listeners can derive their own meanings,” says Hentai Cat.
“This is what makes us love music so much. Hopefully, locals will love us and want us back,” he says.
Date: March 13, 8:30pm
Venue: Yuyintang, 851 Kaixuan Rd
Tickets: 50 yuan (students), 60 yuan (at door)
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