Two AI-generated cats standing on their hind legs at a red fence, screaming along to Bronski Beat’s 1984 song “Smalltown Boy”, have become one of November’s strangest viral hits — with an estimated 46 million views across TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
The clip shows the two cats taking turns clutching their heads and screaming into the camera, then dancing together to the song. The original was posted by @bellvtrix.ai, and the TikTok sound “original sound – Bellvtrix” has been reused by thousands of creators putting their own cats into the routine.
From Instagram dance to AI cats
The cat dance copies an earlier human dance video posted on Instagram in August 2026 by @elvira.mua.music. The AI cat version took the same routine and gave it to two very dramatic felines, and the internet did the rest.
Bellvtrix’s own TikTok post of the clip had about 11.4 million plays when it was read on November 5, and a remake by @zefosik with real cats in a living room had about 5 million plays and 379,700 likes by November 11. The song itself is enjoying a revival: around the 40th anniversary of “Smalltown Boy” in 2024, it already backed an 80s dance challenge on TikTok.
Slowing, but still everywhere
The trend is now slowing — between November 4 and 5 the original TikTok stayed at about 11.4 million plays, and the top remake moved only from about 4.7 million to 4.8 million. But with an estimated 46 million views in total, the screaming cats have already earned their place in the year’s hall of viral fame.
For Bronski Beat and singer Jimmy Somerville, it is another unexpected revival. For the cats, it is a reminder that on the internet, screaming at a fence to an 80s synth-pop classic is a perfectly good career move.
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