A game that one particularly cinematic regiment of highway patrolmen play with a character portrayed by one half of the pasty Pale Force, Jim Gaffigan, involves the presiding trooper substituting ever so subtly the word “meow” for “now” and competing against time to do it a predestined number of times. Mr. Gaffigan, for all of his alertness, of course catches on to this masquerade and begins questioning the officer about what he hears as a slip of the tongue – a comical one that makes him giggle so. It’s dorm room humor – toilet humor – and it’s extremely cutsey, despite the witty effort. Brooklyn’s Meowskers are here to take back the pride of the meow, offering a glittering strain of confetti that freezes upon impact with the air, study enough to be used as a sidewalk and yet scarily menacing enough to never be touched by a living soul. The songs on its debut EP Fake Orange are packed with moments of both lyrical incisiveness and tonal musicality that could silence a person – depicting a world that is larger and smaller than it truly should seem. It’s about immensity in scope and it’s about minute details that bite us in the ass more times than we count. It shines a light on hypocrisy and in how sometimes it’s easy to forget to live the good life – perhaps one that’s available to everyone whether it’s seen or believed. It’s almost fitting that one of the songs included in this session was used in a video spot for last week’s MTV Video Music Awards broadcast, which involved all of the high-ticket items that the station peddles to unsuspecting high schoolers and younger. There were racks and helicopters, etc. It was associated with Las Vegas – where more bullshit goes down per capita than most places – and a now infamously horrifying Britney Spears comeback performance that has been unanimously panned by everyone with eyes and working brains. But there it was, an example of what some of the Meowskers content is all about. The horrors of the world are walking amongst us and going nowhere people. You cannot pull the plug on Spears trying and trying again to right the runaway train hurtling like a suicide down a broken rail. When lead singer Matt Rudnicki sings, with clarity and force on “Colors That Lie!”, “You don’t know what you like!” he could be singing directly into her ears, or ours. We like burning planes for some reason. We like the stumbling drunks. We like the faux pas and the mistake-addled clutter of everything. Meowskers present some of these very issues in a way that allows them to live as big as those songs that the Flaming Lips made about Yoshimi and pink robots or The Who made about pinball wizards.
Official Meowskers note about the song descriptions: Meowskers’ vocalist / keyboardist Matt, “I’m way too drunk right now at my oldest friend’s wedding on the French Riviera” Rudnicki, could not be reached for comment. We hope to see you soon, Matt. Stay cool and tough, young and in charge. And get home safe.

First song
The Worst Thing in Heaven (Meowskers) [4.31MB] [1153 downloads]


— unreleased

Mike Cheever: To me, the title is extremely fitting for this track. I feel like it’s a description of trying to escape the horrors of the world, but knowing that these horrors are caused by human nature and will never be cured. For example, I remember being a small child and having a big problem with the fact that my favorite GI Joe could only hold the sniper rifle in his left hand. I was right-handed and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t want to use his own right hand – which to me was obviously much more steady and thus more accurate and deadly. I hated Sgt. Doom for this oversight, and only years later would I realize that – right or left handed – the sarge had really been a valuable asset in my conquering of the laundry room. So you see, one must be able to see beauty in imperfection. Otherwise, you might be in heaven and not know it.

Jeff Neuberger: Better safe than sorry I guess. I think it’s my dad’s favorite song too.

Second song
Dead or Awake (Meowskers) [3.93MB] [1039 downloads]


— unreleased

JN: Mike and I get to sing/yell on this one, which is always fun. I think when we finally record this one for real it’s going to scare the shit out of us.

MC: This tune, as with most of our tunes, was developed at The Compound, where we live and play in Brooklyn. Back in the days when the building was used as a sweat shop, a tunnel was built in the basement letting workers escape to another building if law enforcement showed up. The tunnel is sealed up now, but the entrance remains. We put sound foam up and rock out in there. To me, this song is all about the brutal pain of making an honest mistake – but knowing that if you learn from it, a mistake can be the best thing a man can make, besides pasta.

Third song
Blood Intended (Meowskers) [5.00MB] [1062 downloads]


— unreleased

JN: I’ve had these little bells for a few years that I always try to find a place for in whatever setting I’m playing, even though they’re really hard to consistently play with any accuracy. Sometimes they clang together brilliantly and other times they get tangled and sound dull and choppy. I do kind of like this though, because it’s a crap shoot every time I pick them up. They pop up twice in this song. I got them at this shop on West 4th street in the village. A dingy, cluttered closet of a space with folk instruments and weird junk percussion literally piled everywhere arbitrarily, with no organization whatsoever. I found them in a bucket in the corner. You had to pay a dollar just walk through the front door, because I guess the place is kind of a novelty and the eccentric owners were getting fed up with tourists popping in “just to look around,” so they instituted an entry fee that would be returned to you upon leaving if you purchased something. But the bells only cost a dollar, so I told the guy just to keep the one I already gave him. He rolled his eyes, grunted and reluctantly agreed. I was a little put off cause to me that seemed to make perfect sense. But at least I got the bells.

MC: How many times have you watched the sun come up and wished it would stay down?

Fourth song
Colors That Lie! (Meowskers) [3.54MB] [1060 downloads]


– original version appears on Fake Orange

JN: I think we opened a show with this song the same day we wrote it. Kind of been an anthem of ours ever since.

MC: This is the first track of our “Fake Orange EP”. At first, I thought this track was about lunatics having sex. Later, after this song made its way into a pretty hot ad for The MTV Video Music Awards in Vegas, I knew that it was mostly about lunatics having sex and partying. Every time we play this song, I will steal a motorcycle and your girlfriend.

Meowskers Official Site