Rat Boy – Chip On My Shoulder - All Metal Everything

Written by PezzHead

I remember RAT BOY from when I was like 15. When he was essentially the next big Alt Girl craze. Due to his “no fucks given” anarchy and I in the UK and his OG punk attitude and scruffy/designer look, with his man bags, bucket hats and thrasher style hoodies that complimented his ugly yet pretty boy face which is undoubtedly, begging for me to pinch his cheeks.

Regardless, RAT BOY’s latest “Chip on my Shoulder” flying off his forthcoming LP “Internationally Unknown” (Awesome album name) Is still very reminiscent of the same boy I knew from my mid teens. Fusing early British punk rock styles (Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks) And no doubt some American influence (The Ramones, Bad Brains) with hip hop vocals stemming from the early bird breakthrough artists of the genre ( Wu-tang, The Pharcyde, NWA, Public Enemy) with mid pace punchy, coherent, delivery. Also sounding very much like Jamie T at times with his accent cutting through nicely. There’s definitely also a audible amount of Beastie Boys in his music with the undoubtable “rap rock” influence.

The track is essentially driven by a punk ensemble of British vintage overdriven; very dirty sounding guitars reminiscent of old school punk. With a backing of simple bass guitar and drums compressed to high fucking hell. I have to say I’m a big fan of the mix overall, the drums and bass really bring the track to life and the energy is electrifying but still sounds very organic which helps it maintain that very punk sound.

In my opinion, the verses are where this track really shines. They’re introduced with a guitar chord drenched in effects. RAT BOY comes in with the flow style I

mentioned earlier; it’s just cool and raw as hell. There’s samples flying everywhere including a trap clap. Extremely Beastie Boys with a British flair.Then it kicks back into the chorus with the “la la la la” sample that was introduced at the start of the track, lead by the repeating line
“I got a chip on my shoulder” very repetitive, very DGAF, extremely PUNK.

So after hearing this track I’ve come to the conclusion that RAT BOY definitely doesn’t have some of the most innovative, interesting or new sounds around at the moment but he might just be at the forefront of keeping PUNK very much alive. In my opinion, he easily surpasses Slaves due to the fact he’s a relatively well known artist but remains self-made and doesn’t suck up to any major record labels. All you have to do is check the description of the music video to see that he was pretty much involved in every aspect of the project and making what he wants to happen… happen.

Punk is not dead.