Rat Vs Possum Live @ RRR
Gig
Sam McDougall
There’s no doubt this local bunch of marsupials have come on frog leaps and kangaroo bounds in the last year or so. And though their Tote (rest her soul) performances were rated by one Inpress (ex)editor as some of the best of 2009, I had found them a little fresh and sloppy—all glitter, no big hitter. From the controlled acceleration of the opener to the jagged My Disco cover at the death, this outing proved Rat vs. Possum’s capacity for escalating the freshness whilst shaking the slop.
It was the songs that stood out here. Simple, thick, repetitive beats and pulsing guitar bursts scattered with swelling mantras, animal calls, bleats and barks—all memorable, all unique. Each number complemented yet diverged from the last in a set that saw ripples whipped into surging waves of goodness and back to relative calm. The inclusion of a backing choir did wonders for the density, and the rhythmic all-percussive climaxes demonstrated that drum circles need not be ganga-fuelled, patchouli drenched, full-moon affairs.
It was fair enough to hear the accolades pour fourth on-air the following morning. Rat vs. Possum seized the stage quite unlike any act we’ve seen at the seasonal RRR showcases and offered themselves up as one of the acts to catch in 2010.
