Sydney five-piece Day of the Meerkat have just released their latest single Tokyo Black Wolf, available now on the band’s official site for free download.
The song’s title cheekily derives from the plethora of bands that invoke either Tokyo, Black or Wolf in their name, which as pointed out by the presser, includes but is not limited to: Black Keys, Black Lips, Black Angels, Big Black, Black Sabbath, God Speed you Black Emperor, Black Francis, Black Dice, Tokio Hotel, Tokyo Police Club, Teenagers in Tokyo, Tokyo Rose, Birds of Tokyo? Wolfmother, Wolf and Cub, Patrick Wolf, Wolf Parade, Peanut Butter Wolf, Wolf Eyes, Wolf People and Guitar Wolf… phew!
The song itself is described as a lighthearted take on the sometimes silly and gratuitous nature of the imagery, fashion and fads that can often surround rock music. When speaking about their latest single, Day of the Meerkat said that Tokyo Black Wolf was a response to the all-to-often over-stylised presentation of rock.
We threw a catchy song full of ‘la la la’s’ into the Twilight Zone and came out with something just as wrong as it was right. A special, feel-good, one-of-a-kind kind of nausea that you can dance to.
We wanted to grab the hand of popular music and make it hit itself in the face while yelling ‘Stop hitting yourself!’. We wanted to make a different kind of ‘hit’.
The lyric ‘Let’s throw paint on ourselves in the video’? It’s a direct result of seeing a thousand videos where bands, models and animals get splattered with paint and mug to the camera.
You can check out Day of the Meerkat launching Tokyo Black Wolf at The Sandringham Hotel in Newtown on the July 20. Supports include Surprise Wasp and Black Island.
Listen: Day of the Meerkat – Tokyo Black Wolf
