Raven diary #45 The Raven Fifteen (albums) pt. 1

Dear diary,

Raven here.

Folks. My humans have been listening to this podcast about this super famous human musician named Cobain who listed his top 50 favorite albums. It’s usually a big cat yawn, but it did inspire me to share with you some of my favorite albums. Unfortunately, 50 albums is too many to put in one diary, so I’m only sharing 15. Here I go!

#1.     It’s hard to pick a #1 favorite album, but if I had to, it would have to be Arch Your Back by Caturday. Caturday isn’t necessarily a household name (and if you’re a human, none of these artists are) but they’re a crucial part of the feline music world. Formed in Seattle by singer Furball Jones, guitarist Harold Hairball (better known as “Hacker”) and drummer Katie Yowler, Caturday’s rockin’ first album Arch Your Back was released in 1991, on the same exact day as the human Cobain’s band released their most famous album. The album has the perfect mix of punk anthems like “Smells Like Catnip in Here,” “Yarnball Day,” and my purrsonal favorite, “Wanna Have Some Kittens With Me,” and ballads like “Sad, Sad Meow,” “Where’s My Baby Cat,” and “Frenemie’s Gone,” which really helped me cope with Lollipops’ death. Some of the songs deal with the sadness of lead singer Jones’s experience getting spayed and neutered, which might explain why the album cover of Arch Your Back depicts Jones drowning in the ocean.

#2.  My second album has to be Letter to my Litter Box by The Feline Fiascos. Formed on the streets of New York City in 1970, these five strays, lead singer Lyle Litter, lead and rhythm guitarist sibling Ed and Wendy Purrlin, drummer George Clawdaddy Smith and bassist John Pawson started jamming in New York cat cafes in 1969. Later that year, they signed a deal with Cat Toy Records and in 1970, released their first album Letter to my Litter Box. The album has 16 punk bangers that are purrfect if you’re in a yowl-at-the-world kind of mood. The first track is literally called MROWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The music video for “Happy Eat a Mouse Day!” even features Pawson drowning himself in his own litter! How punk is that?????

#3. The third album on my list has to be Furry Tale of a Furry Tail by The Triangular Ears. Named after the infamous Triangular Ear catnip, this all-female Houston trio was formed by singer and bassist Lucy Von Whiskerton, guitarist Kitty Kat Smith, and drummer Sara Hairball Gordon (better known as Granny Hairball); they got their start playing weekly gigs at Collin’s Cute Cat Café and released a string of EPs on Whiskerton’s own label, Dogless Records. The release of their first full length album Furry Tale of a Furry Tail in 1995 solidified them as pioneers of what would soon be dubbed the Furry Tail Underground. The album contains iconic tracks like “Just a Little Dose of Catnip,” “Moonlight Yarn,” “Hack Another Hairball,” and my favorite, “Backyard Brawl.” The album cover features Whiskerton with bird wings, probably as a tribute to The Triangular Ear’s hummingbird producer, Stella Goldy.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll be back with three new albums soon. Until then this is…

THE END…