Crank up the Wayback Machine, Mr. Peabody… My second grade class is visited by a D-List celebrity, a presenter on the local television station. After some exaggerated whimsy about the greatness of her job, she opens the floor for questions. Debbie Cox raises her hand and asks, with a mix of wonderment and fear, How’d ya get outta the TV?

Consider the World View of this seven-year-old. She believes that a television show is a play, enacted for the individual viewer by a crowd of tiny thespians who live in the television. And, based on the How’d ya get out, Debbie assumes that the actors are incarcerated behind the screen against their will, perhaps for the safety of society. Imagine the terror of a tiny Donald Trump running through your house pursued by miniature members of the House Judiciary Committee. My mom would have taken out the entire cast with a single swat of her broom.

‘February,’ by Meeping, is the reminiscence of a child within the seven-to-seventeen demographic, whose best friend was – not a person imprisoned in the plastic – but the television itself, a benevolent Buddha who gazed back at the gazer, never passing judgement on the events witnessed by its single rectangular eye. No human dramedy could be improvised by the viewer that did not already swim within the flattened fish tank every day in multiple time slots. Tune in tomorrow night for a Very Special Episode of Blossom.

After the final commercial our viewer joins the Justice League of America as Televisionperson, a superhero with the power to watch TV really well.

TV laughs at all my jokes
It can’t tell that I’m alone
It’s just my type

Televisionitis
Is my ability…

‘February’ has the refreshed retro feel of a rebooted series, a 60’s surf show set on the juice-stained rug of a suburban bedroom instead of on a sandy beach. Listen as the bass player summons the melodic ghost of Joe Osborn, who crossed over last year and still hasn’t changed the strings on his celestial harp.

Meeping, based in Portland OR, is Rachel Zakrasek (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Jake Pettit (bass), Julia Mahnck (lead guitar), and Daniel Baltazar (drums). ‘February’ appears on their new album, Meeper of the Month, which compresses the calendar to the nine most musically interesting lunar cycles. I’ve had my ear on today’s track since July, when it was released as a demo under the name ‘Sleeper is the Sleeper.’ For extra credit, compare and contrast the two versions.

Meeping’s music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music. And be sure to follow Meeping on Instagram and Facebook.