Ratcat
| Ratcat | |
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Ratcat, 1991
(L-R): Amr Zaid, Andrew Polin, Simon Day |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 1985–1998, 2006–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Danger Mouse |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band which were formed in 1985 and are fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic punk-style guitar won them fans from both the indie and skate-punk communities. They found mainstream success with their extended play, Tingles (October 1990), album Blind Love (June 1991) and the single, "Don't Go Now" (April), which all reached No. 1 on the ARIA Charts during 1991. The band released two subsequent albums, however they did not match the earlier chart success. Ratcat ceased regular live shows in the late 1990s, however they have continued to play sporadic shows since that time.
Ratcat were formed in 1985 in Sydney by Simon Day on lead guitar and lead vocals, Victor Levi on bass guitar and Trevor Wintle on drums. Both Day and Levi had been members of a garage band, Danger Mouse. Ratcat "built-up a strong live following by playing the local haunts of the Sydney skate-punk scene alongside the likes of Massappeal, The Hellmenn, The Hard-ons and Happy Hate Me Nots."
The group signed to Waterfront Records, where they released a self-titled six-track extended play in December 1987, which "contained four of the band's self-penned stage favourites plus a cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells 1960s bubblegum apotheosis 'I Think We're Alone Now'." It was followed by two singles, "I Think I Love You" (August 1988) and "Baby's Got a Gun" (December).
Their debut album, This Nightmare, appeared in July 1989. By that time the line-up was Day, John McAteer on bass guitar and Andrew Polin on drums. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, the album "contained a treasure-trove of witty, effervescent Day-penned tracks like 'Go Go', 'True Lust', 'Baby's Got a Gun' and 'The Killing Joke', plus a cover of UK band The Darling Buds' 'If I Said'."
Their second EP, Killing Joke (July 1989), and another single, "Saying Goodbye" (March 1990), followed before they left Waterfront. Amr Zaid replaced McAteer on bass guitar and backing vocals. Alister of Tharunka felt "Saying Goodbye" was "quite refreshing, both in the areas of its mixing and melody, despite decidedly average vocals." During February 1990 they supported gigs by English group, Buzzcocks, alongside fellow Australians, Falling Joys.
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