Album Review

Rat Attack – Rat Attack EP

• 7th Mar 2013

These Exeter punks have been making a name for themselves with regular play on Radio One and Kerrang! Radio, and have also been announced to play Download and the new Radstock Festival later this year. But is the excitement surrounding the band warranted? To put it simply, yes.

Their self-titled EP is an absolute party record in similar vein to Cancer Bats, it is 18 minutes of aggressive vocals, pounding drums and raging drums. Opener ‘A Bird In The Hand’ kicks everything into gear, it’s infective chorus hitting home instantly and getting stuck there for quite some time. Vocalist Mike Hodges bellows out “I’m not good for you! / I’m not good for you, my darling” in the final third of the track, over a thunderous guitar/bass mash-up.

Swiftly followed by ‘Facehooked’ contains biting lyrics about the Facebook generation (“I’ve lost touch with the human race / All my friends in the cyberspace), while ‘Look Back And Laugh’ features one of the most contagious bass lines.

Current single ‘Heartbeat’ really captures what this album is about. Featuring Liam from We Are The Ocean, both he and Hodges have a fantastic back and forth vocal play throughout the song. But this isn’t even the best bit of the song – the music behind the two singers is what makes it, and from this you can see how this is being described as a “party record”.

Closer ‘Bad Catholic’ initially becomes a little more rock than the previous four tracks, but doesn’t lose any of its energy as a result. But by the chorus, we are back in usual territory. This unsigned four piece needs to be snapped up now, as the only major flaw I could pick out from this record was that it was too short. It’ll be interesting to see if they can manage to keep this level of energy over a full length, but I’d say that’s a safe bet.

Tracklist:
A Bird In The Hand
Facehooked
Look Back And Laugh
Heartbeat
Bad Catholic

Venue: Rat Attack EP
Support Band: Unsigned