It is fair to say that since returning from an extended hiatus, UK punks Yorkshire Rats have blossomed into one persistently rousing and creatively tenacious proposition. It is not as if their early years were barren from success and plaudits let alone ear exciting sounds but as their new self-titled EP shows, maturity and a new creative drive has seen them become one of the essential melodic punk encounters on the British if not global scene.
Formed in Pontefract by vocalist/guitarist Don Mercy (ex-Abrasive Wheels, ex-Billy No Mates) in 2004, Yorkshire Rats released a well received 7” and EP in their two years capped by supporting Rancid in 2006. Then the band took that hiatus before returning around a decade after first stepping forward and subsequently released their swiftly acclaimed debut album, Sea of Souls in 2015 via Indelirium Records. It was a release embracing the band’s earlier sound whilst welcoming a broader punk canvas and that new energy, all subsequently pushed again by the Trouble City EP last year and now their new four track offering.
Again the new release sees the band drawing on the seeds of punk rock across the decades and from both sides of the North Atlantic, infusing all into their own individual hook strapped, melody shaped songs. The EP opens up with the irresistible Alone Together, a track “all about the strains of relationships whether that be romantic or political.” It opens up with a delicious old school hook, raw bait surely nurtured from a Ramones/Stiff Little Fingers like inspiration. Soon rhythms are jabbing at the persistent lure, in turn the potent vocals of Mercy flirting with ears and matching the infectious strength of the sounds around him. The melodic boisterousness and craft of lead guitarist Matt Lee only adds richer colour to a song already gripping the imagination and body with its chopping riffs and rousing rhythms.
The following Where Do I Sign? brings a more US styled stroll to ears; its lively body and melodic enterprise akin to Green Day though soon developing its own unique character as the firm beats of drummer Chris Furness and the dark swing of Josh Clarke’s bass unite with the fiery veins infused by Lee. Though slightly more restrained in energy compared to its predecessor it is an equal in catchiness and uncaging lusty hooks as too next up No Way Out. There is more of a Social Distortion spicing to the third track, it again a bold and flirtatious proposal with an addictive chorus impossible to resist. With a bassline to drool over and an enslaving sing-a-long vocal temptation further in, the song hits the spot dead centre.
Final track, Better Days Will Come, is an energetic croon with a Joe Jackson like riff and Elvis Costello scented melodic suggestiveness, all wrapped up in Yorkshire Rats creative theatre. It is a fine end to an outstanding release with Mercy a vocal magnet even as hooks and melodies intensify their weight and temptation.
The EP is the most rounded and relentlessly contagious offering from Yorkshire Rats yet, its songs relishing the inevitable increase in as suggested songwriting maturity and individual let alone united craft. A must have for melodic punk fans? We think so!
The Yorkshire Rats EP is out now on Northern Ruff Records @ http://yorkshirerats.com/store/ and other online stores.
http://yorkshirerats.com/ https://www.facebook.com/yorkshirerats https://twitter.com/yorkshire_rats
Pete RingMaster 21/06/2017
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
Diversity continues to enrich album and ears as the sultry smoulder of The Weed Don’t Lie radiates warm melodic and harmonic persuasion across an exotically textured landscape whilst hugging the increasingly impressing voice and presence of Star before High & The Mighty brings its own individual tempting to bear on the imagination. A web of varied rock flavours from electro to heavy, the song entices like an unexpected mix of Ministry before they went metal, Heaven 17, and Spineshank. The track is another of the peaks of the album matched quickly by the melodic shuffle and seducing of Annie and an excellent spin on EMF’s classic, Unbelievable.
It is a rousing start eclipsed by the following 
English folk singer/ songwriter Alun Parry has his song My Name Is Dessie Warren embraced by Prowse next, acoustic and sultry electric guitar hugging the vocals from the start with a restrained but pungent bass line and jabbing beats emerging as the song catches the imagination with increasing energy and expression. Once more ears are left seriously satisfied though maybe not as much as they are by new single Mississippi Beat, a magnetic encounter featuring a duet between Prowse and acclaimed Irish singer Pauline Scanlon, who is one half of folk duo Lumiere. The song, written and recorded by songwriter Jez Wing and his band Cousin Jac, wraps the senses in melodic beauty and emotive temptation; the siren-esque tones of Scanlon the perfect contrast and company to the plainer but no less expressive tone of Prowse and the piano courting both with its own intimate elegance.
A country climate blossoms with the following Sleep When You’re Dead but equally a folkish drama and reflection makes a pungent hue in the sultry presence and emotion of the song too. As in the first track, and most to follow, there is a swing to proceedings, even in its slow croon, which just grabs the imagination as forcibly as the heart spawned lyrics. That catchiness is more unmissable in Hell For Leather. Its opening lure of vocals from across the band is like a fanfare, enticing within the mellower but no less lively stroll of rhythms and melody honed hooks. The track reveals itself to be persistently bewitching, like a snarling fusion of Following Foxes and Seth Lakeman which just gets more rousing and vocally incendiary with every passing minute.
