After two full length album releases in 2020 already, Bad Rat? are back again with a killer new single, titled “Mechanical Children”. Read along with us as we break down our thoughts on the track, in addition to background on the band themselves.

Formed in Bennington, VT and now living in Southampton, MA, Bad Rat? are making music across all genres, with their primary focuses on indie rock and post-punk. However, the band also dives into indietronica, alt rock, and some darkwave as well. After driving through a snowstorm to see their favorite band in concert, the band was formed, because they realized their commitment to music and dedication to creating was too great not to be put to use. Since then, they’ve been cranking out releases, six albums to be exact, with "it's just the house settling" making seven. The newest album is all set for release this upcoming October 30th.

Their albums have had many themes, but the overarching theme is fear. Fear of growing up, of the future, of the past, of death, and of life. Location is another factor in the work they put out. "it's just the house settling" was recorded in their new house, a four bedroom in Western Massachusetts and each place they've lived has provided inspiration for different themes and sounds.

While the band also has an unreleased track titled “Evelyn” coming out soon, we’d love for the focus to be specifically on “Mechanical Children” and the message it brings. Specifically though, it draws on the bridge between youth and adulthood. Growing up means fear, uncertainty, doubt. It means learning which parts of yourself to hide and which parts of yourself to give away. These are the themes of “Mechanical Children”, and they carry over into the album as a whole.

One more thing that we’d like to add regarding the band is that it is primarily a solo project by Marc Kamil, yet there is a rotating cast of members that make appearances as well. Each album draws on the strengths of different people in Marc's life, from production assistance from a fellow childhood hooligan to backup vocals from a college friend.

As you can so clearly see, the music, story, and themes are quite complex and unique. As unique as the setup of the band is, we can confidently say that the high output of music and overall quality in which we experienced on “Mechanical Children” seriously hold up through and through. The track itself is certainly based in indie rock, but we could definitely see where glimmers of post-punk came in as well. As lovers of both genres, this song was an absolute treat to listen to.

We definitely don’t want to spoil what you’re going to hear on the song, but let’s just say that the confident vocals, varied instrumentation, and the story within the lyricism are something to behold. We can tell that each song is carefully crafted and that so much thought and energy are put into the band’s releases. I mean considering there’s six full length albums over the course of three years should tell you that music is an absolute passion.

The best part about the single is that it got us even more hyped up for the impending album. After listening to this song in particular, we had no choice but to go back and check out some of the group’s previous work, which we loved, and encourage you to do the same. First things first though is listening to “Mechanical Children” so you can feel the same amount of joy that we did as soon as it finished.

With all this being said, we highly recommend you take the time out of your day and get listening! For all things Bad Rat?, to listen, and to keep up with news on the album release, please check out the following links below.

Music:

Mechanical Children on Spotify (our newest single)

Bandcamp (all of our music)

Mechanical Children on Bandcamp (our newest single)

Mechanical Children on Youtube

Links to all other streaming sites

Social Media: