''Year of the Rat'' is the debut extended play by Canadian

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

duo

Softcult Softcult is a Canadian grunge duo consisting of twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn. The duo are known for their melding of grunge with shoegaze, as well as their DIY and riot grrrl-inspired ethics. The band's most recent EP, ''Heaven ...

, released on April 16, 2021, through Easy Life Records.

Background and recording

In 2017,

Courage My Love Courage My Love is a Canadian rock band from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 2009 the band consists of twin sisters Mercedes Arn-Horn and Phoenix Arn-Horn in addition to bassist Brandon Lockwood. History The group was discovered at a battl ...

released their second studio album, ''

Synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...

''. After the album's release, twin siblings Phoenix and

Mercedes Arn-Horn Mercedes Arn-Horn (born October 31, 1993) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, director and actor. She is the lead singer and guitarist of Canadian rock band Softcult, and was formerly the lead singer, guitarist and keyboardist of the Canadian r ...

found themselves at crossroads with their record label over the band's creative direction; the Arn-Horn siblings spent the remaining years of Courage My Love's existence writing hundreds of songs to appease their label, which ultimately proved to be fruitless and discouraging. The band played their final show in March 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada. In the summer of 2020, the Arn-Horn siblings decided to disband Courage My Love and pursue a new project together where they were free to pursue whatever direction that they wanted. ''Year of the Rat'' was written and recorded during most of 2020 at the band's home studio in Kitchener, Ontario. The EP was produced and engineered by Phoenix Arn-Horn, and was mixed by Chris Perry. Owing to their negative experiences with their former label, Softcult were initially planning on

self-releasing Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

their music, until they were urged to sign with a label by their manager.

Composition and lyrics

''Year of the Rat'' has been described as

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

and

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

. Both Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn considers ''Year of the Rat'' to be less developed than the band's subsequent output. Speaking with '' Rock Sound'' in February 2022, Mercedes retrospectively described the EP as "dipping our toes in the water and seeing how it would go and how it felt", whilst Phoenix felt that the EP was primarily a homage to their musical influences. Mercedes felt that the EP's lyrics was primarily composed of "blanket statements about issues we were passionate about", and that it was less lyrically honed in than Softcult's later releases.

Title and artwork

Mercedes has called the EP's title, which also refers to the zodiac year of the rat, a metaphor for the " rat-race". "The artwork for the EP on that one is a bunch of rats running in one direction with one red rat among all these white rats, so that’s supposed to symbolize the ‘rat race’ and how it just takes one person to be like “you know what? I’m doing things differently” to break up a pattern." Although the EP's songs were written during the zodiac year, ''Year of the Rat'' was released during the year of the ox.

Reception

''Year of the Rat'' received generally favourable reviews from critics.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from Tidal. Softcult *

– vocals, guitar * Phoenix Arn-Horn – vocals, drums, production, engineering Additional personnel * Chris Perry – mixing

References

{{Softcult 2021 debut EPs Softcult albums