There are countless jokes and long-running gags about the size of ska bands, and how many members is too many. Do they have a tour van, or do they need a bus? Toronto, Canada’s Rat Grenade joins bands like Joker’s Republic in bucking that trend and proving that a three-piece ska band isn’t just possible, but it may be the perfect size. Rat Grenade is exploding onto the scene (sorry, I was going to avoid puns, but obviously I failed) with the first single off of their debut album, and it definitely warrants hearing more.
The premiere single is titled “Die Young”- an incredibly catchy, albeit defeatist, bop of a song. It begins with a simple skanking upstroke guitar rhythm that is almost reminiscent of a sped-up version of the intro to Mustard Plug’s “You”. A deep bassy voice comes in, setting a catchy vocal melody for the verse before the drums join in to bring the band together in a nice ska punk rhythm.
The chorus melody of “You’re gonna die you’re gonna die young” is much louder and more melodic than the verse, begging the listener to sing along as the backing vocals child in with “but young is not that far away”. It’s deeply dark and pessimistic and catchy as hell.
This is such an easy song to skank to, very melodic, and it feels really full. I didn’t even notice that it was only 3 instruments the first time I listened, and I completely missed that there was no horn section. Great ska punk definitely doesn’t need horns or keys, just a great ska melody and preferably a lot of energy.
The rest of the album is out now, and I’ll probably be writing a review on the whole album, but this first song has me hooked.
Written by Gimp Leg
