Rat Boy have recorded in Los Angeles with Tim Armstrong from Rancid, played festivals in Japan and China and toured North America with The Interrupters. But with all these adventures around the globe, there's no place like home.
This is the central theme that Rat Boy explore on their upcoming third album “Suburbia Calling”, which will be released via Hellcat. On “Suburbia Calling”, Rat Boy explore the stories of their roots in Essex. It's the land of wheeler-dealers and shady characters, the home of nosy neighbors, rowdy clubs and Joey Essex. For readers outside the UK, it's the land of Blur, Depeche Mode and The Prodigy: a place not so far from East London, but in other ways a world apart. And it's not only an immense source of inspiration for Rat Boy, but also the place where everything happens for them. Just outside Chelmsford is a converted barn where the band can be as creative as they like - a headquarters that is a recording studio, rehearsal space, art studio, storage room and hangout all in one.
Frontman Jordan Cardy says: “I wanted to sing about Essex. We live in Essex, and when you've grown up somewhere, you notice the things there. There's so much to draw from. Essex is really close to London, but it's different in a lot of ways. We have a lot of freedom here, we've built a place where we can record, rehearse and hang out, something you can't have in London.”
Rat Boy - completed by Liam Haygarth (bass), Harry Todd (guitar) and Noah Booth (drums) - approached the making of the album in an unorthodox way. They recorded a demo and a live performance of each song at home, which were then sent to producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur), who put them together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Tracklist:
1. Mob Mentality
2. Rudy's World
3. One in a Million
4. Best is yet to Come
5. Every Little Helps
6. Suburbia Calling
7. Badman
8. She's the One
9. Essex Land
10. Handbags at Dawn
11. Day Trip to London
12. Boy Wonder
13. Take My Place
