Altered Zones

[Dent May in Oxford, MS; December 2010]

By Marissa A. Ross

MP3: Dent May: "Eastover Wives"

MP3: Bass Drum of Death: "He's So Fine"

MP3: Dead Gaze: "Take Me Home or I Die Alone"

A little over a year ago, out of nowhere really, there were murmurs on the internet of a mysterious entity by the name of "Cats Purring." It started making regular appearances on my Twitter feed, usually accompanied by a curious comment or TwitPic from Mississippi singer/songwriter Dent May. I started digging around to see what all the commotion was about, and discovered that "Cats Purring" had not only its own Twitter, but also a website and a Tumblr. Through a constant stream of media-- from animated GIFs to photos of raucous house parties-- it quickly became clear that a number of the South's most prolific DIY bands had come together to form a sort of musical Megazord. ON A DUDE RANCH.

I talked with Dent May about Cats Purring over iChat a few weeks ago. For those of you who have somehow gone this long without hearing about Dent May, here’s a clue: he rules. This silk-voiced Oxford crooner won't be confined to any single genre. His 2009 debut LP on Paw Tracks features his incredible ukulele skills, while his side projects tap everything from hip-hop to his country roots. To a non-native, one of the most distinctive things about Dent is his passionate yet unconventional Southern pride. After spending a whole hour "with" May, I still maintain that Cats Purring is a Megazord. I can’t say that I remember "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" in its entirety, but I know that the Megazord consisted of, like, all five of the Rangers coming together in their respective Zords to form one huge Power Ranger ready to kick ass and make shit right in the world.

So yeah, Cats Purring, basically.