UK artist Jordan Cardy, known by his stage name Rat Boy, has just released an exciting new EP titled Get Over It. Rat Boy is an awesome young talent, creating music that brings together a huge range of genres and styles; fusing together aspects of funk, jazz, electro, indie-punk and hip hop together. The result? A captivating five track EP that is one of the least predictable works to have been released in 2016.
We’re thrown in the deep end from track one, a one-minute Intro that is a challenging and experimental piece with some super glitchy beats and samples. It’s quite possibly the weirdest track on the EP, but it’s not aimless noise by any means. There’s still bass and a beat to bop your head to, something that is typically present in all of Rat Boy’s tracks no matter the genre he is having a stab at.
His already-released single Get Over It is the second track on the EP and it’s by far the cleanest, production-wise on the whole record. Based around an impossibly catchy horn sample and backed by a bass guitar line that’s just dripping in funk, it’s definitely the most accessible track as well, with some catchy hard-hitting vocals added to the mix. Reviews have suggested that Rat Boy carries a Gorillaz-style influence, and there’s a short section near the end of the track where the vocals fall to the back of the mix that definitely gives off Damon Albarn-esque vibes.
Up-and-coming artists tend not to be confident enough to mess around with time signature in their early music, but in Kicked Out Tape Rat Boy gives us a slow burning intro to the track before hitting almost double-time in the rest of the song. The compact, heavy mix of hip hop samples and driving bass makes this tune the most energetic on the record. Cash In Hand is another super dense track, characterised most prominently by heavily affected vocals in almost a manner coined by the Beastie Boys. It’s incredible to hear just how many styles Rat Boy references on this EP, and in Cash In Hand we get a hard, punk/grunge guitar riff all the way through the track.
Unlike the Intro, the final track on the Get Over It EP is actually the longest on the record. It’s an instrumental called Goodbye and seems to really make the record feel complete with its chiller vibes and lounge style organ and keys. Although this EP is short, limiting Rat Boy’s capacity to explore his incredible mash-ups of genres further, it’s captivating in its unpredictability and that’s something that Rat Boy must hold on to.
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Get Over It is out now. Grab a copy here.
