Rats on Rafts/De Kift - Rats on Rafts/De Kift

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 26 / 11 / 2016

---

Having embarked on an off-the-cuff collaboration at a festival in 2013, Dutch post punkers Rats On Rafts have now formalised their relationship with nine-piece experimental horn section De Kift, having pooled resources to release an album where each band offers their services to revise the other's songs. If you are thinking that sounds like the sort of thing only well-established fans of each band would be interested in, hold on. Both bands have clearly taken this very seriously (the process, at least...the songs themselves are a hoot), spending a month in an analogue studio. And yet, the sense of joyful, often reckless, experimentation and playfulness that must have made their original festival set such fun survives. So you get the intense post-hardcore of 'Brass Poisen Face' embellished with a increasingly desperate sounding horn line, only intensifying the edginess of the rumbling bassline. 'Powder Monkey' has the cold edginess of late 70s Manchester, but this time the horns soften the intensity and lift the second half of the song so that it feels oddly celebratory. Spoken word segments merge with increasingly frantic playing on 'Melk En Benzine', and it is as if Mark E. Smith had learned Dutch and decided to hire a rebellious offshoot of the Salvation Army as his new Fall line-up. 'Meggy', meanwhile leans on De Kift's success in film soundtrack work, while also capturing the freewheeling mood of early Britpop. All brought together, it makes for an invigorating half hour of music. By turns, intense, playful, moody, celebratory – but always tuneful and always enjoyable. One of 2016's least expected highlights. Form an orderly queue...

Track Listing:-

1 Last Day On De Zon
2 Voorbij
3 Brass Poison Face
4 Dit Schip
5 Powder Monkey
6 Melk En Benzine
7 Moonlight Flit
8 Meggy
9 Swan Song
10 Sleep Little Links 2 3 4
11 Pink Pank

Band Links:-

https://en-gb.facebook.com/RatsonRafts/
http://ratsonrafts.com/
https://twitter.com/ratsonrafts
https://www.instagram.com/ratsonrafts/
http://ratsonrafts.bigcartel.com/

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/firerecordings
https://www.facebook.com/Firerecords
http://www.firerecords.com/
https://firerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/fire_records/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FirerecordsUK

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg