'The Tender Morsels' Rock Out with their Cats Out

Me-effin’-ow!!! This web show’s tagline already had me chuckling: King of Queens writer Giuseppe Graziano presents The Tender Morsels. A rock band for cats…..Finally!

Considering the internet’s obsession with felines, you’d think this Spinal Tap-y, cat-centric, Alice Cooper-y glam rock band would’ve debuted sooner. Created by Jeffrey Brown, (who double duties as the Tender Morsels’ drummer and whose credits include True Blood and Arrested Development) The Tender Morsels targets a totally untapped market of spinsters and straight dudes(?).

With songs like The Magic String (“I got the magic string!”), emphasized by the stage theatrics of lead singer Brad (Brendan Hunt) – he wraps string around his head to taunt his fans – Tender Morsel rehearsals sometimes come to a grounding halt when band members accidentally slip on cat vomit. But that comes with the territory.

Like any well-executed satire, The Tender Morsels captures a niche genre of rock, one where The Wiggles might be seen as competition. But they’re not. As any newly minted parent of an infant knows (and is reminded of every single night on repeat), The Wiggles play for kids and are also WAY more famous.

We meet the Tender Morsels on the cusp of their North American Shelter Tour, where the rockers explain they’re moving in a new direction with their second album, away from their first release: Bad Kitty, NO Don’t Pee on the Floor, I’m Going To Take Away Your Mousey Toy. “It came across too preachy. Cats don’t like to be told what to do, who does,” shares drummer Seff Morris (Jeffrey Brown). He then asks a band member to go get him a drink. Zing!

Some laughs ignite from Tender Morsels’ concert footage with a dance floor entirely of live felines meandering to-and-fro to the sound of loud meows accompanying the music. The band has trouble keeping its fans from marking their territory on stage, but the Tender Morsels take it as a compliment – the world is their litterbox (just remember if you ever make it to a show, stage diving is probably not the best idea).

This Christopher Guest schtick has been done ad nauseum, but if the show includes enough cutaway shots of cute cats with their paws in the air, it may just find an audience in their owners. (Extra perk is the names of all the cats listed in the credits. Big shoutut to Icicle, Squeeks, and Ruckus Rockstar)

Check it out on Strike.TV.