Last time we caught up with Family Dinner, we were leaning into the Long Island band’s moniker as a mask for our fears over sharing Thanksgiving dinner with our relatives. Well, a few months later and the world still on fire, but tensions have eased greatly since November, so it’s high time to start focusing on the things that really matter: Our beloved pets.
Family Dinner’s latest, a fluid alt-rock bop titled “Eyes,” is all about vocalist Natalie Simonelli and guitarist Michael O’Keeffe cats, Iommi and Leatherface. We ran the song past this writer’s own cat, Lolabear Stringbean Marotta, and she approves.
“[‘Eyes’ is] about the connection you have with your pets, how they patiently wait for you every time you leave the house and how when you’re out you’d just rather be at home with them,” says Simonelli. “It was originally written when Michael and I just had Iommi, when we’d get home from a show or out with friends you’d just see her green eyes in the darkness coming towards you and following you around before you flipped the lights on. The sentiment of the song obviously extends to our new guy, Leatherface. I have them in mind whenever I sing it but I hope it reminds the listener of their own pets or person they just can’t wait to get home to see.”
If there was any sort of silver lining to any of the madness we’ve all experienced over the past year, it’s that we all have had some nice quality time with our pets, Lola included.
“Eyes,” meanwhile, is taken from Family Dinner’s forthcoming EP, You’re So Cool, recorded with Brett Romnes (The Movielife, I Am The Avalanche) at Barbershop Studios and due out February 12. Crack open a few cans of Fancy Feast Savory Centers, shoot a crinkly ball across the room, and lock into “Eyes” via Spotify below.