Rat Att Agg / Damn Arms

On the brink of revolution, Test Icicles stood at a crossroads. The options? Spearhead what would eventually become New Rave (seriously, their last few gigs had some sick grime interludes), or realise all members are not quite tuned into this mainstream lark and prefer making lots of convoluted and convulsion-inducing noise. They opted for the latter. Thank God.

	"A pinch of Test Icicles thrown into a violent stew of B-Movie horror and Jazzy interludes, stirred while reading Manga comics about rampaging Japanese Yakuza gangs"

So, after spliting, Dev’s off emoing it up with Lightspeed Champion or whatever they’re calling themselves today, Sam’s gone into hiding to write comic books (I think. Gosh, this really is unqualified evidence. People googling Test Icicles to find out what they’re up to now and finding themselves here – don’t take too much notice). Rory, the one who seemed to do most of the song writing for the band, has got his own new suit too – the awfully/brilliantly titled Rat Att Agg.

They sound like? A pinch of Test Icicles thrown into a violent stew of B-Movie horror and Jazzy interludes, stirred while reading Manga comics about rampaging Japanese Yakuza gangs – and it’s not wholly in time with itself.

So a Saturday night in Stealth, everyone drunk and bleary eyed, hoping to pull – Rat Att Agg is slightly wasted in their metapunk stupor. There are a few drunks head banging to the fact they’re not going to get anywhere with the ladies dressed as Dominic from The Others (seriously, that’s so 2005), but on the whole people are nonplussed. Which is by all accounts, a shame. Because every inch of my body thinks Rat Att Agg is a beautiful thing. ‘Can We Fix It?’ is like the Bob The Builder theme tune zapped through a hellish jazz nightmare that’s part travelling circus, part Nightmare On Elmstreet 3: Dream Warriors (that movie was cool.)

By the time Damn Arms slip into the picture, people are even more wasted, the place is even more packed, so their cut-throat New Wave thrash does a whole lot better. ‘Now That’s A Reaction’ is a loud slab of screaming and feedback, sculpted in the most illustrious patterns possible. Due to the odd shaping of Stealth, it’s like being trapped in a little pill, it always seems more riotous than it rightly is, and you always feel like if you keep walking forward you’ll end up upside down. Funny that....and everyone’s always drunk.

Yes, everyone’s drunk, this writer included – it’s part of the Saturday night process. It means people generally seem to have a good time, but it’s not necessarily because of the bands on before them. These people would dance to anything (except The View).

Rat Att Agg and Damn Arms are a riotous pair on a righteously riotous tour. Good Stuff. Perhaps tonight’s gig won’t go down as their personal best... but at least everyone got drunk and had some fun.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.