The Cat’s Miaow – Skipping Stones: The Cassette Years ‘92-’93 
Those year end lists always get me, and had I been quicker on the catch on this comp, it would have made my best reissues list as well. Better late, as they say, though. World of Echo rounds up a more complete overview of Aussie janglers The Cat’s Miaow than on their previous, cherry-picked Songs ’94-’98. Where that was a bit of a best of, this time the label trawls through the band’s cassette years ’92-93 for some alternate versions and homespun early works. The last collection hit up seven inch singles and comps, but for Skipping Stones the label re-spools works from the band’s run on Toytown and Golf.
With a delightful hiss in the background, the collection finds The Cat’s Miaow slipping from Sarah territory to South Hemi heaviers, often hewing towards closer kin in The Bats and The Clean. The band wasn’t as flashy as some of their peers, but the warm embrace of the group’s early works makes clear their appeal. The songs jangle brightly, but just as often get their feet caught in fuzz, feeling out the facets of the day. World of Echo does the band right with this collection, sifting through the band’s roots with an attention to detail and a reverence that’s warranted. It’s been a few months, but if like me you missed this collection, now’s a good time to dive back in.