Exeter’s Rat Attack are proving that the spirit of punk rock still exists strongly. Mainly thanks to the representation of a strong underground UK scene; punk bands have been thriving and keeping the genre and the spirit it embodies alive for many a year. Even after the mainstream forgot or simply paid more attention to the sound bite friendly contagiousness of pop-punk bands.

Punk-rock is about being passionate of what you do, and you feel for all the world upon the first listen of this, their debut EP, that Rat Attack are a full on representation of that spirit. Where screaming and shouted vocals exist to exert the spirit and feeling going into the subject matter, rather than because it’s “cool,” Rat Attack instantly emerge above so many other young bands who offer cheap imitations of Green Day or Blink 182. Claiming a much more varied and alternatively accomplished list of influences, Rat Attack have firmly established a very DIY/underground sound.

Feeling more like Comeback Kid, Black Flag and so many other legendary punk/hardcore bands, Rat Attack tick all the necessary boxes and are quite literally a smack in the face straight away. The only minor fault (and though it is minor, it does become slightly annoying) is that they play all their cards straight away. There isn’t a hidden gem of developing dynamic as each song goes by, they appear to have settled on a sound that their happy with and stuck to it. The songs don’t sound the same exactly, there are variations and several different structures and chord changes, but the feel of the whole thing is too similar. Not that there’s particularly a problem with their sound but it gets boring all too quickly, which, for a five track EP is certainly not a good thing.

You’ll like this if you like punk, although people with the true spirit of punk and independent music may shy away at the £5 price tag. Rat Attack tick all the punk boxes and sound good enough to pull it off, but they’re far from being the finished item, time will tell if they convert the potential. Look out for these guys for sure, and if you can bear to part with £5 for a five track EP, then check this out.