Pekoe Cat | Guitar Monster: Exclusive Premiere

The idiosyncratic pop-rocker turns up with a preview of his sophomore set Belleville.

Pekoe Cat cranks it up as loud as it goes on his playful single Guitar Monster — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.

A precursor to idiosyncratic Canadian pop-rock multi-tasker Kyle Woolven’s forthcoming sophomore album Belleville, Guitar Monster is actually a endearingly eccentric dance-rock confection delivered straight to your pleasure center. Fashioned from a driving beat, a nimble bassline, pulsing keyboards and, yes, crunchy guitars — all set to a frisky, freaky arrangement and high-angle falsetto vocals — the tantalizing track hangs its stylish hat in the same time zone as Tame Impale and Portugal. The Man.

While we’re on the subject of location: Woolven, as you might have guessed from his album title, hails from Belleville, Ont. Much like his hometown, Woolven may be relatively unknown, but that does not hinder his drive to create and progress. From Day 1, the multi-instrumentalist and producer has continued to make it clear that creativity comes first and a fan base comes second … or fourth.

“I don’t like the idea of creating an entire album of the same song,” Woolven says. In keeping with that philosophy, Belleville finds Pekoe Cat’s multiple musical influences certainly evident. From Tame Impala to Neon Indian, Passion Pit and even a little bit of The Strokes, Woolven’s refusal to settle on a sound is beginning to form his signature sound. Much like his freewheeling approach to writing and recording has become an M.O. all its own.

“My recording process is a little different for a few reasons,” he explains. “I record in my basement through a couple of mics and a Tascam US-1641 audio interface that doesn’t even belong to me. It’s actually owned by my brother Sean, who (by the way) is the guitarist for indie rockers The Most Serene Republic. I’ve never recorded a song that is finished being written; I write and record at the same time. So even I don’t know where the songs will end up once the recording process has started.”

See where Guitar Monster ends up above, hear more from Pekoe Cat below, and get to know him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.