DEAD MALL ENTER A NEW PHASE WITH CHAOTIC NEW SINGLE 'RATS'
Newcastle alternative punk outfit Dead Mall have unveiled a bold, heavy new sound on their latest single ‘RATS’; their first single since the release of their debut record ‘SUPERLIMINAL’ last year.
Dead Mall have been busy since the release of their album last year, touring up and down the east coast and working in the studio towards their next body of work. Mixed, recorded & produced by the bands guitarist Darcy Long, along with mastering from Grammy award winning engineer Alan Douches (Converge, Misfits, Every Time I Die), ‘RATS’ is a left turn from the bands previous output in terms of production and songwriting.
On the songwriting process for the track, Long explains “on RATS we really wanted to strip things back a bit in terms of production, letting the performance and aggression take centre stage on the track. We took a lot of inspiration from classic metalcore bands like Poison The Well and Every Time I Die, trying to incorporate that dynamic mix between chaos and a more melodic approach”
The band have always taken their lyrical cues from obscure subjects, previously drawing on themes such like the original Australian Big Brother series (‘EVICTION NIGHT’), or a long lost Saturday Night Live sketch from the 90s (‘GASOLINE’) - ‘RATS’ is no different.
On the story behind ‘RATS’, Frontman/lyricist Ruairi Burns explains “The lyrics took inspiration, in part, from the pamphlets by The Church of the SubGenious. They were a bizarre parody religion that would publish what were essentially zines, full of satirical religious phrases like “eternal salvation or triple your money back” or “The World Ends Tomorrow and YOU MAY DIE!”. If you watch the music video for one of our first single ‘Chris Martian’ (2024), you can see a bunch of their images and phrases flash across the screen in certain parts.
The song plays off that kind of imagery, violent suburban absurdity. It’s dark, because the future is bleak, but it has a playfulness to it. (“It’s sad to see a family torn apart by something as simple as suburban dogs”.)”
The release of ‘RATS’ comes packaged with some stunning visuals, courtesy of director Nathan Rathsam (who has previously worked with the likes of dust, Dogworld, Egoism and many more in the past). The clip features frontman Ruairi Burns as he stalks visions of a rat-like figure, with an edgy, eerie feeling throughout that pairs perfectly with the track.
On the video’s inspiration, Rathsam comments "The video concept started with a Donnie Darko-esque idea, which we all agreed would suit the vibe quite well, but I wanted to flip the concept on its head a little by having Roy become the “threat” to the rat halfway through the video. Visually we were really inspired by the grittiness of some of Chat Pile’s clips, and we also took visual cues from David Lynch’s ‘Rabbits’ for the ‘rat’ in the clip”
The band saw some significant growth last year with the release of their debut album, earning praise from tastemakers such as Rolling Stone, The Music, Happy Mag, Life Without Andy and many more.
On the airwaves the album saw radio play on triple j, Unearthed Radio & Double j, as well as community stations such as FBi Radio, 4ZZZ, 2SER, PBS, RRR, RTR and more. They managed to sell out shows in Sydney and Melbourne last year in support of the album, and have supported the likes of Trophy Eyes, Anberlin, Feel The Pain, Dregg, Honest Crooks, Whatever, Forever & Burn In Hell in the past.
To celebrate the release of ‘RATS’, the band will be playing a co-headline show in Newcastle on the 7th of August at King St Hotel - alongside Sydney band Homesick, and supported by local favourites Grip Down & Written On The Body.
