"King Rat" is a song by

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...

and appears as the title track to their fifth

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

, following "

The World At Large "The World at Large" is the third promo release by indie rock band Modest Mouse. It was recorded in 2003 and was featured on their album ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News''. It was not until after the album's release that Isaac Brock ...

". The single was later released on the band's 2009 EP '' No One's First, and You're Next''. The promo also features the song "Fire It Up" from their 2007

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Modest Mouse, released in 2007. It followed their previous studio album, 2004's ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News''. It is the band's o ...

''. The promo was given away through multiple online music stores when the individual purchased a pre-order of ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. The promo features the track "King Rat", later included on the "Dashboard" single, on the A-side, and "Fire It Up" on the B-side, although some discs are mislabeled, with Side A having "Fire It Up" and Side B having "King Rat" instead.

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...

had stated in an interview published on 10 April 2007 that the band intended to release the song on an EP at a later date, along with other tracks that did not make the album ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''.

Music video

During a boat trip with family and friends while on a visit to his native

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in January 2007, actor

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

outlined a music video idea for the then unreleased song to frontman Isaac Brock and other band members.— Modest Mouse, who had befriended Ledger through their tour manager, had been touring Australia at the time. The animated video which was "fully conceived down to the last detail but unfinished" when Ledger died in January 2008, it was completed by members of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

art collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the needs ...

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

''The Masses'', made up of Daniel Auber (co-director and illustrator), Norris Houk (lead animator), Jade Taglioli (animator) and Sara Cline (producer). Ledger, who had also been part of The Masses, received a director's credit. Earlier media reports claiming that

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...

would handle the animation work did not prove to be true. The video debuted on 4 August 2009—the same day the EP ''No One's First and You're Next'' was released—on MySpace and The Masses' website. Ledger, who was opposing "the illegal commercial whale hunts taking place off the coast of Australia each year," intended the video—which depicts whales poaching humans to make pet food - "to raise awareness on modern whaling practices." Furthermore, proceeds from iTunes purchases of the song, in its first month on iTunes, were donated to the

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...

, who actively intervene with

whale hunting Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry a ...

Track listing

Side A: "King Rat" – 5:27
Side B: "Fire It Up" – 4:35

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King Rat (Song) Modest Mouse songs 2007 songs Songs written by Johnny Marr Songs written by Isaac Brock (musician) Songs written by Jeremiah Green Songs written by Eric Judy Songs written by Joe Plummer Songs written by Tom Peloso