The Cat's Miaow

Australian indie-pop outfit the Cat's Miaow came together in May 1992 as a quartet drawn from Melbourne’s tightly interwoven music community. Vocals were handled by Kerrie, previously of the Beat Poets and Tra La La; guitarist Bart arrived from Blairmailer and Girl of the World; bassist Andrew had already worked with Blairmailer and the Ampersands; and Cameron, formerly of Girl of the World, sat behind the drums. Working on a basic four-track recorder, the band generated a run of cassettes for the modest local imprint Toytown across the following two years. The titles comprised Little Baby Sour Puss, Pet Sounds, the excellent From My Window, and How Did Everything Get So Fucked Up?. In 1996 U.S. label Bus Stop assembled the strongest material from those cassettes into the compilation A Kiss and a Cuddle. Another set of EPs, live recordings, and unreleased tracks appeared in 1997 under the title Songs for Girls to Sing and included “Shoot the Moon,” which had first surfaced on a split single with Stereolab. After issuing several ambient-influenced pieces as Hydroplane, the Cat’s Miaow resurfaced in 1999 with The Long Goodbye, their contribution to Darla Records’ ongoing “Bliss Out” series.