You know that voice in your head that tells you your work isn’t good enough? The one that makes you erase, redo, delete, and start over until you’ve squeezed all the life out of your own ideas? Pterocat built an entire song around that exact feeling. “Anti” is their first single off the upcoming album Slow Blink, and it’s a bass-driven, psych-drenched middle finger to creative paralysis.
Let’s get the lineup straight because this band has grown into a solid unit. It started as a duo— Thaïs Dahas and Colby Granger on guitars and vocals—but now it’s a full five-piece. Deanna Harris holds down the bass, Sam Horwitz sits behind the drums, and Nathan Forsyth handles keys and extra guitar. The whole crew recorded with engineer Greg Hendler at Meadowlark Audioworks, and the result sounds like a band that’s been playing together for years, not months.
Lyrically, Dahas and Granger lean into repetition as a weapon. They stack verbs like “redo, retouch, undo, delete, erase” in both English and Portuguese, and they repeat the phrase “not good enough” until it starts to feel like a mantra you’re trying to shake off. That repetition is intentional. They say the song is meant to encourage creative flow and free listeners from judgment. And honestly, it works. Instead of wallowing in self-doubt, the track turns that doubt into a rhythmic hook. You end up singing along to the very words that used to hold you back.
The band’s backstory adds weight to the music. Dahas moved from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta in 2016, and meeting Granger in 2018 sparked a creative partnership that’s lasted ever since. They’ve dropped a handful of singles and an EP over the last few years, but “Anti” feels like a turning point. It’s the first taste of a full-length album, and it shows a band that’s found its voice—layered, bilingual, and unafraid to get weird.
A music video is coming a week after the single drops, and it’ll feature collaboration with Atlanta movement artists. That’s the kind of cross-disciplinary energy that makes Pterocat stand out.
Give “Anti” a spin. It’s weird, it’s warm, and it might just help you shut down that inner critic—at least for three minutes. Out since July 24, and worth every second of your attention.
Pterocat Socials: Bandcamp