Sleep Soon by Rat Filth

FJ020: Lo-fi, free and fried, just what’s required. Sleep Soon is the third offering from noisy combo Rat Filth, consisting of Timothy K Brown (solo, Mount Trout) and Noah Symons aka Great Earthquake. As I write this, they’re currently experiencing another Covid-inspired lockdown in Victoria and that matters more now that they’re recording with both band members in the same room at the same time (not during lockdown obviously), previous releases involved long distance collaboration. The duo’s second, a tasty little appetizer on former Hobart label Wrong Place Records, was five long years ago and they’ve definitely turned up the sizzle with this new collection, particularly on the more energetic tracks like Feeling It and Pure Filth. A bare bones one-mic-in-a-room recording set up and rough editing also add to the immediacy of these nine improvised tracks. It’s not all overheated though, with some slower moments like the droning atmospherics of Another Popper and the sub-marine percussive echo of Upset Rhythm. Safe to say the sounds here are fairly different to the other things that the two do elsewhere, yet Noah’s motoric drumming on So Tired shares something with the airy post-rock of Great Earthquake and TKB’s angular guitar on said track has something in common with the skewed no-wave folk of Mount Trout. All the elements might be a lot more distorted and contorted with Rat Filth but there are still plenty of flavours in this cathartic fry-up.
- Tim P.

Further listening:
https://greatearthquake.bandcamp.com/music
https://mounttrout.bandcamp.com/music
https://timothykbrown.bandcamp.com/music

Improvised, exploratory & otherwise out. Not a jazz label. Not afraid of contradiction.

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