Rat Boy - Internationally Unknown

The Guardian 80

(Parlophone)

After being tipped for a breakthrough at the start of 2016, Essex-based Jordan Cardy allowed much of the hype surrounding him to dissipate by not releasing his debut album until 18 months later. While Scum was a decent enough amalgam of skate punk dynamics, big chanted choruses and Jamie T estuary English, it was hamstrung by an over-reliance on tiresome skits. The follow-up is a big improvement, thanks in part to Tim “Operation Ivy/Rancid” Armstrong’s production.

There are certainly echoes of Rancid’s ska inflections on the likes of Don’t Hesitate, and Armstrong himself provides vocals on No Peace No Justice; the punchy melodies of Wavves are also a reference point on I Wanna Skate. Elsewhere, the pace drops, as on the gently skanking Night Creature. Follow Your Heart, meanwhile, sounds like nothing so much as Damon Albarn essaying a brass-assisted cover of the Vaselines’ Son of a Gun (a song best known for Nirvana’s version). Cardy’s lyrics are still a slight disappointment, however, consisting too often of ill-defined “us v them” sentiments (witness So What’s “They don’t care about us so we don’t care about them”). Still, that’s a minor quibble – it’s hard not to enjoy an album as full of energy as this.

Pitchfork 55

The fashionable UK punk-rap frontman has been made into an icon, but his second album is too often a pale and rote imitation of rebellion.