Courtesy ratstallion <\/p>\n
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What started as a surf-punk project between two guitarists turned into one of the best new shoegaze bands of the year.<\/p>\n
Denver musicians Phoebe Rankin and Max Murray know each other well, having played together in several other projects over the past decade, but their latest endeavor, ratstallion<\/a>, was truly a happy accident.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got together to work on this surf band. After about a month of writing, I don\u2019t even know what we were trying to write ended up as. It was like Red Hot Chili Peppers butt rock. We were like, \u2018We fucking hate this,\u2019\u201d Rankin explains. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe were like, \u2018Well, maybe let\u2019s just try not to try.\u2019 We just ended up writing shoegaze. We were like, \u2018Damn, that is just what we are good at. Maybe we shouldn\u2019t try to fuck with branching out too much.\u2019 The vision was somewhere, but not in our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur work is funded by readers like you who make voluntary gifts because they value our work and want to see it continue. Make a contribution today to help us reach our $50,000 goal!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n But the muse steered them in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a big ethos, too, of we wanted to write a lot and experiment with writing quickly and producing rapidly and see if we could do the Turnstile thing of making a lot of stuff,\u201d Murray adds. \u201cIt felt like that was a genre of music we could do that with and a community that would be really excited with it. We found that to be the case. It\u2019s a really engaging group of people that is drawn to that type of music, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The duo quickly recruited bassist Lenny Torres and drummer Dan Paulin.<\/p>\n \u201cI was instantly hooked,\u201d says Paulin, who also plays in POST\/WAR<\/a> with Murray. \u00a0\u201cA lot of the lyricism is a really cool part of this band, and a lot more focused on the heavy sonic elements.\u201d<\/p>\n The debut EP, Sisyphus Happy<\/em><\/a>, released independently in November, followed. The six tracks included on the introduction hit somewhere between straight-forward spiraling shoegaze and popped-up blackened new-wave. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole EP reads like a maladaptive daydream,\u201d Rankin says. \u201cThat\u2019s the narrative of it.\u201d<\/p>\n A seventeen-minute daydream, to be exact. Rankin\u2019s hush-harsh vocal delivery whispers and wails throughout to beautifully nightmarish results, particularly on such songs as \u201cPit\u201d<\/a> and \u201c7th<\/sup>.\u201d<\/a> \u201cTermite\u201d<\/a> and \u201cEye\u201d<\/a> are more upbeat melodically but are equally devastating lyrically \u2014 a common thread throughout Sisyphus Happy<\/em>. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt reaches a little bit of an epoch in \u2018Termite,\u2019 which is about being an OCD girly and losing touch with what the reality of the situation is versus how it distorts through a kaleidoscopic lens of your own thoughts and ruminating things over and over,\u201d Rankins breaks down.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile \u2018Eye\u2019 is about my intrusive thoughts about walking past this gross water on a bridge and being like, \u2018Throw yourself in, that would be kind of fun. What if?\u2019\u201d she continues. \u201cIt\u2019s getting in touch with that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Torres further bears the bones of ratstallion.<\/p>\n \u201cOur music has a certain sense of existential dread, but there\u2019s a camaraderie that we all accept a certain degree of it,\u201d he says. \u201cYes, there\u2019s a lot of not-so-good existential things happening, but I\u2019m not alone in that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, through local gigs and house shows, it\u2019s proved to be a hit with Front Range fans, somewhat to the surprise of the quartet.<\/p>\n \u201cShows are like booking themselves, which is really a first for me in bands,\u201d Rankin admits. \u201cThis band has just been easy. We\u2019ve been really blown away by the reception. The local youths are coming out of the woodwork.\u201d<\/p>\n The next ratstallion house show is set for New Year\u2019s Eve with Denver pop-punk crew Relate.<\/a>, but more bands could be added. The location is secret, so follow ratstallion for more info and an official invite.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis year, make your gift count \u2013
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