Rat at Rat R | |
---|---|
Origin | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, New York City, United States |
Genres | Noise rock Experimental Alternative rock Noise Music No Wave |
Years active | 1981 to 1991 |
Labels | Neutral Records, Sound League, Ektro Records, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine |
Members | Victor Poison-Tete (vocals), John Myers (guitar), Sonda Andersson (bass), David Rat (drums) |
Past members | Walter Sisper |
Rat at Rat R was a No Wave band formed in 1981 by guitarist Victor Poison-tete. The music of Rat at Rat R can best be described as guitar-oriented noise music or noise rock music. [1]
Originally hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, they initially relocated to Philadelphia, but the band soon relocated to New York City's Lower East Side to join the NYC noise rock scene, with Sonic Youth, Live Skull, and Swans, among their contemporaries. [2] Rat at Rat R were frequent performers at CBGB’s.
Rat at Rat R has musical links to fellow Harrisburg native, the avant-garde No Wave composer Glenn Branca. Branca's cousin, Sonda Andersson played bass in Rat At Rat R until 1988 when she left to play bass in Live Skull. Andersson was replaced by Walter Sipser.
Their self-titled album Rat At Rat R was produced by Barkmarket singer/guitarist David Sardy. David Howard played drums on the 1991 release, replacing David Rat, temporarily. [3]
Their debut album was reissued on Finland´s Ektro Records.
In 2012 the drummer David Rat moved to Argentina to get married, and later moved to Brazil. While living in Buenos Aires he recorded the album The United Hates. A documentary film was made by Ariel Pukacz, called David Rat Got Married. [3]
No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene which emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and roll clichés, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance, and atonality, as well as non-rock genres like free jazz, funk, and disco. The scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational, and nihilistic world view.
Glenn Branca was an American avant-garde composer, guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series, he was a driving force behind the genres of no wave, totalism and noise rock. Branca received a 2009 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.
Mars were an American, New York City-based no wave experimental noise rock band, formed in 1975 when China Burg and artist Nancy Arlen (drums) brought Mark Cunningham (bass) and vocalist Sumner Crane together to talk about music. They were joined briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars. They played a mixture of angular compositions and freeform noise music jams, featuring surrealist lyrics and non-standard drumming. All the members were said to be completely untrained in music before forming the band.
Rhys Chatham is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist, primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orchestra" compositions. He has lived in France since 1987.
Band of Susans was an American alternative rock No Wave band formed in New York City in 1986 and active until 1996. It originally consisted of Robert Poss (guitar/vocals), Susan Stenger (bass/vocals), Ron Spitzer (drums), with Susan Lyall (guitar), Susan Tallman (guitar), and Alva Rogers (vocals). The band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving three guitarists. Poss, Stenger, and Spitzer were the band's core members throughout its duration. They originated in the New York No Wavenoise rock scene, but due to their layered guitar sound were sometimes seen as the American counterparts to the UK shoegazing bands. Like Sonic Youth, they drew influence from noise music experimental composers for the electric guitar Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca.
No New York is a No Wave compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contains songs by four different artists, it has been considered important in defining and documenting the scene and movement, with the name "no wave" being influenced by that of the album according to some accounts.
Subhumans were a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1978.
Electric Frankenstein is an American punk revival band from New Jersey, founded by Sal Canzonieri in 1990. The band relocated to North Carolina in 2021. Their style is a mixture of punk rock, hard rock, garage rock, glam, and heavy metal. Their style is called High Energy Rock & Roll in the USA and in Europe it is called Action Rock.
This Is Your Bloody Valentine is the debut mini album by the Irish-English alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine, released in January 1985 on Tycoon Records. Recorded in West Berlin, Germany, it features the band's early gothic rock and post-punk sound, which contrasts the shoegaze sound with which My Bloody Valentine are associated.
The Beat is an American rock and power pop band from Los Angeles that formed in 1979. Paul Collins' Beat resurfaced in the 1990s and continues to tour and record new material. Front man Paul Collins has released several projects with his alternative country group The Paul Collins Band, who play Americana music inspired by country rock and folk rock.
Circle is a Finnish experimental rock band formed in Pori in 1991. Their eclectic, ever-changing style has been associated with genres such as krautrock, heavy metal, progressive rock, and ambient. On some albums they have defined themselves as New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal (NWOFHM).
Huntingtons are a punk band from Baltimore, Maryland which formed in 1994 in the Maryland and Delaware area by Cliff Powell, Mike Holt and Mike Pierce. The band is heavily influenced by the Ramones and has extensively toured with numerous ramonescore bands.
Psycho-Head Blowout is the third EP by American rock band White Zombie, released in May 1987 by Silent Explosion. The album was recorded with producer and composer Kramer and was the band's first to feature guitarist Tom Guay, who had a pivotal influence on the band's sound. It was also the debut release of the band's short-lived label Silent Explosion. The record was the band's first release to receive critical notice and garnered them notice in underground circles.
Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982.
Donald Gene Fleming is an American musician and producer. Besides fronting a number of his own bands, Fleming has produced Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Teenage Fanclub and Hole.
The Ascension is the debut studio album by American no wave musician Glenn Branca, released in November 1981 by 99 Records. The album experiments with resonances generated by alternate tunings for multiple electric guitars. It sold 10,000 copies and received acclaim from music critics.
Lesson No. 1 is the debut solo EP by American avant-garde musician Glenn Branca. It was released in March 1980 on 99 Records.
Fang is an American hardcore punk band from the early East Bay punk rock scene, established in Berkeley, California, in 1980.
The Nervous Eaters, one of Boston's first punk rock / rock and roll bands with Steve Cataldo on vocals and guitar, Robb Skeen on bass, and Jeff Wilkinson on drums. Forming in 1973 they had used the name some years earlier, but had not performed live under it. As the Rhythm Assholes, they had backed local rock legend Willie Alexander on his single "Kerouac" and in concert. After a name change, they made their debut at the hub of the city's alternative music scene, the Rathskeller—known as the Rat—in March 1976. Their first single, "Loretta", appeared later that year on the club's Rat label.
Janne Westerlund is a Finnish musician, songwriter and visual artist known from such Finnish groups as Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, and Plain Ride. His main instrument is guitar but on his solo gigs he plays banjo as well. He sings and writes lyrics mainly in English. Westerlund's career started in the beginning of the 1990s in a small Finnish city called Hamina when he founded Sweetheart, an experimental noise rock group, with his friends. After Sweetheart, he released two albums of "organic electronica" with a trio called Chainsmoker.