Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Lucy and The Rats, Stardumb Records/Dirty Water Records, 2020.
Melbourne girl Lucy Ellis was a member of local Melbourne punk legends, The Spazzys in the early 2000s before moving to England where she immersed herself in the growing punk/garage scene based around London’s Dirty Water Records.
Her new band, Lucy and The Rats, released a couple of well-received singles before dropping their self-titled debut album in 2018, which immediately announced her presence in the competitive London scene as one to watch.
That album received lots of praise from the music press, with Lord Rutledge of Faster and Louder stating that “This full length album from Lucy and The Rats is pretty much the ultimate power pop record”.
The band’s new album, Got Lucky, is due for release in the coming months and Dark Clouds/Get Down are the first single releases from the album.
Lucy and The Rats play an enticing blend of catchy 60s bubblegum pop mixed with the rawness of garage rock and some tinges of surf and punk.
Dark Clouds and Get Down are classic pop tracks laden with hooks that snare the listener and get the foot tapping.
Lucy has the knack of penning tunes that are sugar sweet and innocent and yet quite moody at the same time.
The whole mix is quite nostalgic and, as the publicity blurb that comes with the tracks states, “the tunes are influenced by a lot of that good stuff pop music had to offer back when our parents were young”.
The ethos in the Dirty Water scene is to keep it real and that’s what Lucy and The Rats do.
The recording studio has a light touch.
What you get is good honest playing with overdubs and other assorted recording techniques kept to a minimum.
These singles have certainly whetted my appetite for the album, so I look forward to reviewing it when it’s released.
