INTRODUCING: Rat Columns

David West started Rat Columns in Perth, where he also played in a bunch of punk, experimental and hardcore bands, including Burning Sensation, Whalehammer and Pauline Manson. When he left for San Francisco, he took the Rat Columns moniker with him, on top of joining local post-punks Rank/Xerox and maintaining a role as a touring member of Total Control. More recently West formed a fascinating protopunk/disco outfit, Lace Curtain, alongside the omnipresent Mikey Young and Total Control drummer James Vinciguerra.

In contrast to these projects, Rat Columns is a vehicle for introspection – a counterpoint to the forward-looking extroversion of punk rock. The bent drones and damaged pop of the self-titled EP and first album, Sceptre Hole, hit on the same zone between desperation and disaffection occupied by Shocking Pinks, the alias of mopey New Zealander Nick Harte. On early single ‘I Wonder’, the nihilism conveyed through West’s flat intonation and submerged production is offset by the prettiness of the riff and the warble of a theramin. It’s loneliness rendered with a pure pop heart. Like Shocking Pinks, Rat Columns’ urgent, home-recorded drumming sits at the forefront of the tracks and sounds like someone kicking the shit out of a cardboard box.

The latest Rat Columns single, ‘Another Day’, abandons some of the dust and grit of West’s earlier work, instead delivering the sheen and wide-eyed romanticism of British New Wave. It moves in a similar direction to ‘Flesh War’, the brilliant new track from Total Control. West’s upcoming album, Leaf, was recorded in San Francisco by Kelley Stoltz, on a tape recorder that reportedly belonged to avant-garde obscurantists the Residents. It features contributions from Young, Vinciguerra and San Francisco band members Jonathan Young and Matt Bleyle. Leaf should be arriving in record stores next week, via R.I.P. Society.

Rat Columns will be joining an excellent line-up at the Opera House this Saturday for R.I.P. Society’s fifth birthday bash as part of Vivid LIVE. The live band changes depending on West’s location; the current incarnation features the Stevens’ Alex MacFarlane and Callum Foley. West can also be caught playing solo sets as Lace Curtain, including a sneaky appearance at MONA’s Dark Faux Mo on 21 June.

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