Last month, I was able to go to Rude Fest – an exciting free ska festival in St. Louis, Missouri – for the first time. It was a blast and full of incredible bands. The festival features mostly St. Louis bands but also brings in a handful of ska bands from around the country.
One band I was extremely impressed by at the festival was one I had never seen before or even heard any songs from: Rat Party Dilemma. (Not to be confused with Canadian ska band Rat Explosion – that’s an entirely different type of dilemma). This was Rat Party Dilemma’s second appearance at Rude Fest. Sadly, they had not yet released any music. Well, today, that has changed. On October 30th, Rat Party Dilemma released their first single. It is actually a demo, as the band has yet to release any fully mastered songs. They are working on that right now, but this first demo is a teaser to build up more of an audience and give their fans something to listen to.
“Not So Punk” is a great ska-punk song that is fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled, and horn-heavy, with quick upstrokes through the first half. It ends with a nice long instrumental jam session that changes pace a few times and lets the whole horn section get their licks in. The track is about punk stereotypes and has some tongue-in-cheek lyrics that almost seem self-deprecating. The first verse talks about life as a young punk doing things someone might associate with people in a punk band: skipping school, sneaking around behind their parents’ backs, and getting in trouble. But then it flips it and says, well, actually, I was a straight-A student on the student council and never got in trouble. It’s a fun subversion of expectations.
As the song goes on, the protagonist reveals that they have some good habits, but they aren’t afraid to speak their mind. They are trying to live their best life in a world that’s fucked up. They might not fit the punk stereotypes, but who cares about stereotypes? We all just want to survive and make sure our community does the same.
Rat Party Dilemma didn’t just play at Rude Fest; its members helped put on and execute the festival, ensured that it was free, and still brought in sponsors to make sure the bands could get paid. I don’t know if driving the speed limit, going to bed at an early hour, doing yoga, and getting straight A’s in school means you aren’t punk, but I know damn well that building an entire community together and providing free resources is punk as fuck – and Rat Party Dilemma is as punk as ska-punk can get.
Check out this rad band now and help make sure their debut album gets funded.
Written by Gimp Leg
