It's a story of 'You And Me' as RATS release their debut album TODAY

Part-documentary, part-party-starting soundtrack, Liverpool’s upbeat and upfront, truth-telling five-piece, RATS release their debut album with the infectious beats and big choruses of latest single, You And Me. Lifted from, Rule The World, the band’s debut album – OUT NOW – the band picks out a track that’s both tender and as teeth-bearing, a description that fits the band as much as it does any of RATS’ infectious and brutally honest tracks.

Writing themselves and the people and situations around them into songs that blend reggae, ska, hip-hop, R’n’B and indie, RATS bring frenetic kineticism to songs of anger and injustice, while chilled reflection comes with words of resignation and romance. Releasing You And Me, the band’s energy remains on a high heat as frontman, Joe Maddocks gets personal.

Bringing a comma, if not a full-stop to the band’s extended story of writing, gigging and recording, which began with 2018’s release of Weekend (now massing over 1 million Spotify streams), the release of Rule The World ends RATS fans long wait for the band’s debut long-player.

While their reputation was built as standalone single specialists, releasing fan favourites such as 2021’s Patsy Decline, the concept and concise construction of a fearless first RATS album reveals a group of artists definite in their approach and potential legacy.

“We didn't want just another indie album,” says bassist, Lowell Carragher. “We worked a lot in the practice room trying to get a Dr Dre and Snoop Dog vibe, but none of us are rappers. So, it still needed that element of rock and reggae in it and then it sounds a bit more like The Clash. It’s all of the sounds that make us, a blend of rock music, reggae, indie and hip hop.”

Putting out previous singles, Section 60, Hard To Find and Turn It Around, RATS have dealt with draconian British policing powers and the impacts of inflation and austerity, all with acerbic lines and infectious instrumentation. As a document of the times where inequality breeds as fast as greed, RATS have painted vivid pictures of life where the odds can be permanently stacked against people just trying to get by.

“There are a few fictional stories in the lyrics, a few exaggerated truths, but everything in the songs are things we've heard about or little tales we've read,” continues Carragher. “They’re all true stories. Perhaps dramatised a little, but they're all tales of how we grew up, who we’ve known growing up, the good people and the bad people and it's meshed into this album.”