- Snarky but deadly UK rave-ups for fans of NOCHEXXX and Actress.
- If you've paid any attention to Tom Boogizm's corner of Manchester electronic music—soundtracked by his label, Shotta Tapes—you've probably come across one of the many Rat Heart records he's released over the past year-and-a-half. With a foggy, dubbed-out and often screwy style, the records sit in a loose UK continuum of chewed-up and endlessly referential dance music: think Actress and NOCHEXXX, or like-minded Mancunian Michael J. Blood. The quality of the Rat Heart records varies, but Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs—a Scientist reference, if you didn't catch that—is clubby and energetic, the record where Boogizm carves out a rodent-shaped niche for his pet project.
With improvised-sounding rhythms, distant vocals drenched in delay and a generally spiky aesthetic, Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs touches on everything from early post-punk to mid-period Regis to Hazyville-era Actress. It starts with a jaunty house track ridiculing the "private school DJs" of the album's title who double as online activists—hypocritically, in Ratty's mind. The LP bounds through an opening section of rattling electro ("Stressss"), vaguely polyrhythmic stunners ("Yeye," which sounds like evil Caribou) and a cut that makes me imagine Larry Heard producing The Durutti Column ("Deviate"). Boogizm's vocals are all over the record, but they act more like sonic accents than anything else, adding texture and the occasional sardonic remark.
Where Rat Heart usually lurks in the realm of sludgy midtempo, Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs features some of the project's most fearsome club tracks, particularly the one-two punch at the heart of the album. "Teeth Like A Burnt Fence M8" is a slice of scorched-earth techno with backwards percussion, and the transition to "W A R (VIP)," is stunning, as if the the backwards bits have suddenly been turned forwards and snapped together into a brutal, dextrous track. It's the ghost of the hardcore continuum with a hint of drill thanks to its unreal, topsy-turvy bass.
The LP peaks with the atmospheric jungle of "No Tick 4 Lads In V-Neck Shirts (Brave Lil Piggy Mix)" before sliding into a surprisingly pretty downtempo section, including "Wot Happens If U Just Eat Crisp," where panpipe-style melodies make for a suspiciously relaxed track. Calling on everything from Shut Up And Dance to Madchester to early Warp Records, this closing section sums up Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs well: wizened but pessimistic electronic music that jumps from style to style without a whiff of dilettantism. Instead, it has the grizzled, knowing feel of someone who has experienced so many of dance music's boom-and-bust cycles, and its fickle tastes—someone who despises certain aspects of the industry but can't escape the love of everything that brought him to it in the first place. That love for rhythm, old-school sounds and a generally punk attitude is what makes Ratty Rids The Clubs From The Evil Curse Of The Private School DJs a wonderful listen even at its grottiest.
Tracklist01. A Poem 4 The Modern Day DJ Private School Online Activist
02. Stressss
03. Yeye
04. Deviate
05. Teeth Like A Burnt Fence M8
06. 658: Leigh Via Hag Fold
07. War (VIP)
08. No Tick 4 Lads in V-Neck Shirts (Brave Lil Piggy Mix)
09. Shatterdance (Shade Mix)
10. Wot Happens If U Just Eat Crisp?
11. Ratboy Beat 4 Ur Girls Big Fat Feet