Punk rock’n’roll. You know the type, played by Johnny Thunders-worshipping barflies who look like a ragtag bunch of souls, brought together through their mutual love of SLADE, RAMONES, COCK SPARRER, HANOI ROCKS, cheap whiskey, and cheaper beer. This is “getting ready to fuck shit up on a Saturday night” music!
LOW RATS are out of Minneapolis and play punk-y garage rock with a bit of a rockabilly twang. It’s a standard variation on genres. I can think of bands from the ’80s, ’90s,’00s, etc. that have gone in this direction. At first listen it seems like I have heard this before, but after a few more listens, their sound hooks me. I particularly like the lead singer’s pleading vocal style. “Ex-Crisis” featuring an out of the blue female backing vocal is my fave on this. They slow it down a bit and lean toward their punkier side. It’s cool.
LOW RATS have a proto-punk meets ’90s garage rock style. Rockabilly-ish guitars with boogie-woogie piano playing topped by a crooning singer. “The Corner” is IGGY meets NEW YORK DOLLS, while “Weird Tales of the Falling Down” moves into the early CBGB’s meets Goner Records scene. The music is well-played with a bit of grit, and the vocals are drawling and whiny in interesting ways. Both songs are pretty catchy, too. Available in a super limited, handcut run of 25 copies. Probably too late.
