Monster Cat - Mannequins EP
Five-piece alternative rock band Monster Cat took their name from the mythical Japanese ‘baneko’, which devours its owner and shapeshifts to take his place. Cool.
The band describes their sound as inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins and Fever Ray’s “visceral force of myth and music” (brilliant description there), and their debut Mannequins EP is a five-song flight of fantasy with clever instrumentation and emotional wrought.
The individual tracks are built up beautifully, with progressions on turning points that’ll make your little hairs tingle, and delicate harmonizing that mirrors the fragility of conscience in the album’s fractured love songs and dreamscape realities.
My favourite track is “The Courier”, a haunting duet of dark imagery and lonesome love, laid over the lush symphony of sonically distorted guitar.
You might have heard an earlier, acoustic version of “Underwater” on the preview of Snakeweed Sessions. But the studio version’s got a little addition that… how can I say it?… fake empires things up to a whole other level.
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And there’s good news, till the end of May, the entire EP is available for download for free from their website. If you like it, then pre-order here.
If you still want more Monster Cat, check out Snakeweed Sessions #3. Their episode comes out May 6th.
