If Broken Social Scene taught us anything this year, it's that a huge mess can sound beautiful. Even though San Diego's Gogogo Airheart isn't on the same side of the coin as Broken Social Scene, they've still made an album where a clutter of sounds comes together to form a peculiar whole. Gogogo Airheart's vibe incorporates elements of Krautrock and punk and everything in between, and although it still retains that aesthetic, Rats! Sing! Sing! has more of a dingy rock aura with a carefree buoyancy that backs frontman Mike Vermillion's raspy warble.
"Lie With the Lamb" is brimming with lo-fi abrasive guitar licks with intermittent chiming and "Burn It Down" fits in well with the vagary of a debauchery-filled guys night out. Ashish Vyas's bass lines come off with a rabble-rousing and down-home rustic tone, much like that of King of Leon's Youth and Young Manhood, and "Dub II" basks in a stew of dub (duh) and some bastardized tango.
Out of all Gogogo Airheart's releases, Rats! Rats! Sing! can take the listener to a certain place. Check out "Heart on a Chain," which gives off the essence of a seedy urban setting with even seedier elements of riff-raff wandering about, much like Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat.
This album may come off as sloppy to some, but Gogogo Airheart is an acquired taste. And like all acquired tastes, these songs can be so much more savory once they are comprehended. It's the atmosphere that makes Rats! Rats! Sing! digestible. Just be sure to listen to Gogogo Airheart when attending a wild ruckus-filled shindig.
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