Essex rabble-rousers RAT BOY have been blasting out their anarchic punk, ska and hip-hop amalgamation ahead of October 4th release of their third album ‘SUBURBIA CALLING’. Accompanied by their strongest visuals to date, ‘BAD MAN’, ‘ONE IN A MILLION’ and the title track have been heralded with support including two track premieres, now RAT BOY introduce a markedly different sound with their new single ‘SHE’S THE ONE’.
‘SHE’S THE ONE’ moves the dial for the RAT BOY crew, playing breezy, ‘60s-tinged guitar pop with a Kinks flavour alongside some balmy mods-at-the-beach vibes. While RAT BOY songs cover a broad spectrum of lyrical themes – small-town malaise, youthful misadventures, working class social observations, skateboarding, and people desperately trying to be more important than they are – ‘SHE’S THE ONE’ is the first uncomplicated, irony free RAT BOY love song. Perhaps Jordan Cardy just needed a muse for inspiration, and that’s what happened when he met his wife, who he married in 2022.
The obvious thing to do would be to do the same again, but with more directly commercial moments? Maybe, but RAT BOY had more adventurous ideas, and instead they headed to Los Angeles and cranked up their aggro punk elements on ‘INTERNATIONALLY UNKNOWN’ in collaboration with Operation Ivy / Rancid legend Tim Armstrong. They soon travelled across North America, touring with current wave ska heroes The Interrupters while other high profile moments followed, with syncs in the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ game soundtracks and the British breakdancing film ‘Break Point’.
By April 2023 they had reconvened in Chelmsford, Essex and decided to make their home county the inspiration for their new songs, which also began to lean into more British influenced sounds than ever before. A new creative approach saw Blur / The Smiths producer Stephen Street wield a mix of live recordings and demos made in their HQ into cohesive, high-energy songs. Suburbia was calling, and now RAT BOY are set to break out from their heartlands once again, taking local stories to a global stage.
The 13-track ‘SUBURBIA CALLING’ album is available to pre-order or pre-save HERE. A picture disc vinyl is limited to just 500 copies, and the album will also be released on black vinyl and CD.
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