Half Rats

"We were assembled to play a show by the King of England, hand picked by the King and without ever have meeting one another we formed the Half Rats and started playing gigs at areas near youThis post is LSD driven." - Magic hands and Rubber Bands Mag



HALF RATS Lafayette, Indiana, has been producing old-fashioned party-centric rock 'n' roll for the better part of the decade—the Romance Novels, Eric & the Happy Thoughts, the Sweet Sixteens—and as representatives of that fertile scene the Half Rats are as good as any. Think of the sock-hop deep cuts Dick Biondi plays on WLS when he's not besieged by Abba requests from lame-o suburbanites, and you'll get the idea. In fact, Sir Biondi would probably be able to sneak the heartbroken girl-group number "Johnny Savage" or the surfy teen-boy plea "For the Sake of Love" on the air between the Gentrys and the Shangri-Las. Ever since guitarist-singer T.J. Brock moved to Chicago and joined CoCoComa earlier this year, the Half Rats have been less active, but thankfully they're playing some midwest dates with Shannon & the Clams, an Oakland band smitten with the same sort of vintage sounds. With local boys the Yolks on the bill too—they released a high-energy hip shaker of a debut LP this summer—this show might be your last best chance to break out your dance moves before Chicago freezes over. The Half Rats headline; Shannon & the Clams and the Yolks open. —Brian Costello of The Chicago Reader



Buy the new Half Rats 45rpm Purple Vinyl Record on our WEBSITE!!! Album cover artwork by the amazing SNEBTOR!!!