Housecat is an eight-person band out of Tufts University fronted by MK Charron. (Photo: Housecat via Facebook)

Housecat is a band of boys, but not a boy band. You may think you’ve got them figured out, but they’re splicing different genres together to create their own sound.

Made up of eight Tufts University upperclassmen fronted by MK Charron, the jam band blends pop, soul and R&B in an utterly compelling homage to funk. The sound is rife with ’70s influences and the carefree spirit of summertime, an instant cure for the winter blues.

All of the band members were “playing music here and there” in Tufts’ close-knit music scene before Housecat, but coming together for the first jam session “was like magic,” said Caleb Martin-Rosenthal, who writes and plays keyboards for the group. When it came time to choose a name, the band settled on one that “evokes some cozy vibes, and also the energy of a cat.”

“Disco D” can be streamed on Spotify.

The group’s sunny debut single, “Disco D,” was released Oct. 21 and boasts a self-assured confidence rare among new bands. With the lazy elegance of an actual house cat, the band winds itself through the song with instrumental grace and bright, airy vocals by Charron.

The track waxes poetic about the ways we lean on each other for relief from loneliness, adopting the romantic, rose-colored glasses we use to view one-night stands and momentary trysts.

“Disco D” is a clean, calculated breath of fresh air, opening with jaunty keyboards that underscore Charron’s voice. Infectious, jumpy horns go on to introduce the chorus, taking this track from a soul-heavy intro into a full-on, high-energy pop beat. The instrumentation takes center stage, rising in intensity to counter Charron’s soaring high notes.

“Let’s get down! Let’s get high! Let’s get loose! Let’s get tight!” acts as a fun-loving call to action for the listener, begging for clapping or dancing in response. The bass line comes alive alongside free-spirited, thumping drums. Before you know it, you’re pulled into a whirlwind of sound, color and emotion.

The beautiful euphony Housecat creates in their three-minute track wraps up as swiftly as it began, dropping the reader off after a dizzying rollercoaster of feeling.

As infectiously uplifting as it is easy on the ears. Housecat’s debut track is a highly-caffeinated, mid-pandemic nod to the social interaction we all so dearly miss.