The Unforgiving Sounds of...

CD Cover Maow
Mint Records

Review by P. Freako



34-second excerpt from "Mommie's Drunk" (various formats)


In this corner, wearing the mint-coloured trunks, and weighing in with a sassy attitude... Maow. This is the Vancouver band's debut CD and, I'll tell you, for what it is, it's not that bad. It carries tons of attitude and its raunchy, brazen rockabilly songs are catchy. Their bio describes them as Nancy Sinatra meets the Cramps, but I don't know, it's meaner than that, it's more like Nancy Sinatra with cramps. Though that's a good description of their tough attitude, it unfortunately is also a description of their musical range. They are not great singers and they are not great musicians, so what's the appeal about this CD?

The unwritten punk rule these days is that if a song exceeds the three minute mark it's not a punk song. Maow have decided to take that further and there are a number of songs that don't surpass even the one minute mark. I sat there listening to their CD and it was half over before I blinked! Christ! But ya know? That's the charm of this effort. It's over before you know it, but while it is playing, it's pretty cool, and, now that I know how short it is, I'll probably listen to it a few more times. Why?

Maow just tells you what they think, they don't duck from any topic. With songs like "Mommie's Drunk," "Wank," and a cover of Wanda Jackson's 1958 song, "Mean Mean Man," their rough, rockabilly style shines through. "Cat's Meow" is faster paced, punkier and probably their theme song. I'll tell ya, if I was caught in a Texas saloon brawl, I'd want these three in my corner, because on the CD they list an interesting punch combination which includes a cock chop followed by a jab to body. Ouch! Let's see any cowboy get out of that one.

The Unforgiving Sounds of... is an appropriate title for Maow's debut release. I have nothing more to say.


Mint Records, P.O. Box 3613 Main Post Office, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6B 3Y6




First published in Drop-D Magazine on June 29, 1996

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