Rat Boy - Scum

The Guardian 80

(Parlophone)

With his cheeky Essex-lad persona, lyrics about being fired from Wetherspoon’s and a vocal style more than slightly reminiscent of Jamie T and the Madchester scene, Jordan Cardy might sound like the sort of pop star dreamt up by execs looking to cash in on millennial, austerity-era ennui. Thankfully, his rebellion is all real, and this bumper debut sees the 21-year-old, whose work was recently sampled by Kendrick Lamar, show his versatility. Sure, there’s the self-explanatory Fake ID and Damon Albarn-featuring Turn Round M8 – a mellow, ska-tinged look at getting mixed up with suburban losers (“trackies and North Face, a future court case”). However, Move elevates the formula with an unapologetically Beastie Boys-esque weirdness, Get Over It fizzes with bouncy disco energy and slick production, and the title track oozes punk passion to complement Cardy’s sardonic delivery. Elsewhere, Laidback is a twinkly, Kooks-ish romantic ballad with Graham Coxon on guitar, while I’ll Be Waiting recalls Blur’s End of a Century while offering a delicate beauty of its own. Some gimmicky Grand Theft Auto-style radio interludes aside, this is a state-of-the-nation record that’s as sparkly as it is snarky.

Thu Aug 10 20:45:39 GMT 2017

The Guardian 60

(PLG)

There’s an attractive confidence to this skank-pop-punk debut from the NME’s best new artist of 2016. Solid, road-tested hits Move and Sign On jostle for attention with twitchily aggressive new tracks such as I’ll Be Waiting and Boiling Point. Over 17 songs and endless clunky interludes, however, Rat Boy’s fake prole demotic and shallow social commentary become a bit wearing. Scum could do with a little more of the simplicity of Get Over It and the introspection of Sportswear. What starts off as a gang-signing, car-stealing, signing-on 21st-century Clash ends up as Jamie T robbing Jesus Jones, far more Westfield than Westway.

Sun Aug 13 07:00:07 GMT 2017