Archive for cats

Pet Sounds #75: Brokedowns’ Drum Kit Player Can’t Get Enough of His Kitty Cats

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , on 12/16/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

If you’re unfamiliar with the Brokedowns, a punk band out of Chicago, than shame on you. Less than three weeks ago, the band’s irrepressibly good-natured and good-humored guitarist/vocalist, Kris Megyery, bravely participated in our On Tyranny series, informing us how he had personally witnessed despicable ICE raids at his workplace. He also agreed to speak with The Bad Penny because the Brokedowns’ new record, Let’s Tip the Landlord, which just came out a few weeks ago through Red Scare Industries.

During the same interview, Megyery informed us that the Brokedowns’ drummer, Mustafa Daka, has limitless love for his pets, making him an ideal candidate for the Bad Penny’s other popular series, Pet Sounds. Megyery’s claims proved to be very well-founded, as Daka got back to us speedy, ready to gush over his cats.

“My precious angels, sisters Ava and Olive … are my favorite topics to talk about!” he gushed during an email exchange.

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Pet Sounds #74: Hooded Menace’s Pets Are Hardly Menaces to Society

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , , , on 12/11/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Harri and Touko

Finnish doom-metal cult band Hooded Menace can come across as, well, a wee bit intimidating. But the Finnish Grammy (equivalent)-nominated trio of vocalist Harri Kuokkanen, guitarist/bassist Lasse Pyykkö and drummer Pekka Koskelo temper those fears by throwing curveballs every so often. Look no further than the out-of-nowhere cover of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer” that they surprised fans with three months ago.

Turns out all three members of Hooded Menace have a soft spot. For his own part, Kuokkanen touched base with The Bad Penny shortly after the October release of his band’s smoldering seventh record, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration (Season of Mist), to talk about his coterie of cats (and one dog).

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Pet Sounds #70: Saxophonist for the Band Pets Adores His … You Guessed It …

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , on 10/21/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“Pinky no thinky. Pinky is a spacey tuxedo cat who bonks really hard. She has a giant forehead.”
-Pets’ Chase Ceglie

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The spirit forces (or algorithms, or whatever) threw down the gauntlet at the proverbial feet of The Bad Penny by making us aware of a band called pets. Immediately, the challenge was on to embrace them as part of our ongoing series Pet Sounds, in which we talk with musicians about their often furry (but sometimes scaly or even feathery) frie nds. Lucky for us, pets agreed to let us befriend them – and they’re the focus of the 70th installment of Pet Sounds, which we launched just over one year ago. (If you think that’s a fast-moving series, be sure to check out On Tyranny, which is keeping pace.)

Adding to the kismet, pets – an ambient-electronic quartet based in New York – issued their latest album, the wryly titled 🌀❓(Spiral Question Mark), today. It’s catchy, freewheeling fun from start to finish, enough to make a cat hop up and down. Speaking of which, Chase Ceglie – who writes music and lyrics for the band; and plays tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, ewi, flute, synths, bass, vocals, string arrangement and effects to boot – was the pets member who volunteered to talk with us about his, you guessed it: cats.

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Pet Sounds #68: Temple of Love Open Their Hearts to Fulci the Cat

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , , , , on 09/28/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Lest you think Austin, Texas, is only comprised of psych-rock bands these days, The Bad Penny brings you Temple of Love, a goth-rock/dark-wave band whose debut, Songs of Love and Despair, drops November 7 on Reptile House. Fans of The Black Angels and Killing Joke, take note.

Husband-and-wife duo Steve Colca and Suzy Bravo incepted Temple of Love way back in 2018, intending it to be a “pet” recording project all their own. But the two musicians – who hail from touted doom bands Destroyer of Light and Witchcryer, respectively – decided to aim for loftier ambitions after their 2019 demo earned them heaps of praise.

Consisting of guitarist/vocalist Colca, vocalist Bravo, drummer Patrick Pascucci and bassist Joseph Maniscalco, there’s also an honorary member of the band: Colca and Bravo’s beloved black cat, Fulci. We’ll have plenty more to say about Temple of Love and their maiden release in the future, but first, let’s give the hat-wearin’, snow-bearin’, self-brushin’ Fulci some affection and attention.

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Pet Sounds #65: Friendship Commanders’ Cats Are a Boxer and a Drummer … Sort Of

Posted in Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags , , , , on 09/23/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

If Nashville band Friendship Commanders sounds familiar, it could be because you’ve visited this website before (and if that’s the case, we’re very grateful). We met the melodic post-metal doomsters in May and interviewed one-half of the band, Buick Audra, about her new solo endeavor. During the conversation, we learned about the guitarist/vocalist’s affinity for cats, and tucked away that knowledge for future use as part of The Bad Penny‘s Pet Sounds series.

Well, now is the time we’ve decided to use that card and crown Friendship Commanders as the 65th participant in our ongoing series (which launched less than a year ago, if you can believe it). The timing of this installment is even more appropriate, as the band – which also features Audra’s partner, drummer/percussionist/bassist/synth player Jerry Roe – is releasing a new album, titled BEAR, on Oct. 10 through Magnetic Eye Records.

While a couple of weeks stand between Friendship Commanders and the celebration of their bottom-heavy beast of a record, today we introduce you to two of the band’s biggest, and by far furriest, supporters.

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Crippled Black Phoenix Lap Up Lap Cats

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 10/10/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

In the first installment of Pet Sounds, a new series I’m helming for New Noise‘s website, enigmatic “macabre rock” band Crippled Black Phoenix reveal they love cozying up with their cats.

Pet Sounds #1: Crippled Black Phoenix Lap Up Lap Cats

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