THE RATTLEBACKS ANNOUNCE DEBUT ALBUM & BRAND-NEW SINGLE!
Irrepressible Brit hard rockers, THE RATTLEBACKS, will release their eagerly awaited debut album, Sidewinder, out everywhere on Friday 15th November.
THE RATTLEBACKS’ ascension over the last year is highly notable. Formed in 2021 and hailing from Brighton, England, the unrelenting quintet are stuffed to the gills with passion, belief, and seemingly boundless ability. Built around the towering rhythm section of Seth Markes (drums) and Jack ‘The Hell’ Hollamby (bass), as well as the guitar slinging duo of Coxy (rhythm guitar) and Max Horn (lead guitar), and the impressive pipework of Josh Clarke, THE RATTLEBACKS are destined to become your favourite new band.
THE RATTLEBACKS’ debut EP, Kink, planted the band on the map. The release pricked ears and snared hearty praise from Powerplay Magazine, Fireworks, HRH Magazine, and Metalized. Singles from the EP were greatly received by radio and tastemakers alike, and a raft of sold-out headline shows, as well as a number of live performances with Tailgunner, have only increased the band’s growing stock.
The fiery five-piece are now braced to raise the stakes even higher with the release of their breathtaking debut album, Sidewinder. The band remark about the record: “This debut album has been a lifetime in the making, made with the soul intention of reinvigorating the hard rock genre. These fans don’t want rehashed versions of what has been before, they want a band forging their own path and this is the first taste of us doing just that. Hard rock fans have deserved better for far too long, and we believe we’ve delivered the record that fans of the genre have been missing for decades.” Recorded by maverick producer, David Holmes at Lightship 95, this album is such an accomplished and expansive piece of work. It’s an eleven track, no filler LP, that spans multiple rock sub-genres. THE RATTLEBACKS are the band that the music world needs: raw, honest, powerful, emotive, and completely mesmerising.
Tracklisting: 1. The Taste; 2. Dementia Lounge; 3. Gods; 4. How Calm The Silence; 5. Open Your Mind; 6. Please Me; 7. Swing; 8. Behind You; 9. Waste; 10. Lady In Wait; 11. Lazy Brian.
THE RATTLEBACKS live: November 15th – Guildford, The Star; 16th – Southampton, The Hobbit; *21st – Reading, Face Bar; *22nd – Brighton, Komedia; *23rd – Bridgewater, Cobblestones; 28th – Bath, Burdell’s Yard; 29th – Hastings, The Pig; 30th – Liverpool, Zanzibar. December 5th – London, The Black Heart; 6th – Sheffield, Hallamshire Hotel; 7th – Norwich, Voodoo Daddys; 12th – Hitchin, Club85; 13th – Winchester, The Railway; 14th – Newcastle, Little Buildings. (*w/ Tailgunner)
The Rattlebacks – Sidewinder Album track by track:
There is just no stopping Brit hard rockers, THE RATTLEBACKS. Fresh from touring with TAILGUNNER, The Rattlebacks are now poised to release their explosive debut album, Sidewinder, on Friday 15th November. We exclusively spoke to the ascending rock crew and asked them for a breakdown of their killer album:
The Taste:
Max (lead guitarist): “One of the oldest tracks on the record musically, The Taste has gone through a few evolutions to get to where it is today. Coxy refers to it as his wrestling alter-egos intro song and it’s easy to see why from the intro! Lyrically it’s about finding that person that can take all your troubles away just by being with them, about seeking solace in the person you love. As the song progresses things get slightly more primal than that, however, the message is always a positive one, it’s never about being trapped in love, more so about that person being important in every regard.”
Dementia Lounge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Coxy (rhythm guitarist): “This one started with a work colleague saying she was off to see her Dad at a nursing home in the “Dementia Lounge” and I immediately wrote that down. To me that phrase was captivating and inspiring. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood witnessing my Grandads deterioration with Alzheimer’s and then my Grandmas with Dementia. So, I thought I would write something from the perspective of having such a cruel disease. Although my depiction might appear brutal, I felt it was very important not to shy away from its brutality, confusion and despair. I did double down on that as you might notice the “asylum” noises, whilst these care homes are not an asylum, it did appear to me this way as a child, and I wanted to try and capture that fear I had on the record. To achieve this, I was locked in total darkness inside a white tiled reverb chamber on “Lightship 95” which was no more than a foot and a half high. I was left with a microphone to lose my mind for half an hour, and that I did…. Musically, for some reason, this one was the trickiest to write. It took around six months to complete, and I would say that this is the most collaborative song on the album. “
Gods:
Max: “Lyrically a simple message here, no we won’t let anyone dress us up or tell us what to say, no we won’t censor ourselves to fit a narrative that’s not 100% ours. We are our own thing and if you don’t like it then get out of the way! This is the shortest song on the record but doesn’t feel it, we pick the pace up a bit here and cram a lot into those 2 minutes & 45 seconds!”
How Calm the Silence:
Josh (vocals): “A parallel of sorts compared to other tracks on Sidewinder, “How Calm the Silence” is a reflection on inner peace and the ongoing battle one must fight to achieve such peace. It’s an anthem fuelled by will, determination and a message that so much stress will leave you missing out on life’s pleasures. As a track, we had no idea the commercial promise that would develop throughout our time at Lightship 95, where the song really took shape and blew our expectations out of the water. A blend of aggression and groove with gospel inspired melodies and angelic choruses gives the music a juxtaposition which resonates perfectly with lyrical themes.”
Open Your Mind:
Coxy: “Becoming one of the most aggressive songs you’ll ever hear on this topic. It depicts the battle between wanting to try cannabis on your own terms, while not wanting to fall under peer pressure. With the verses being slower, using eloquent words that can sound quite alluring. That is paralleled by a funky upbeat chorus with gang vocals, echoing the temptations that drugs can hold. Ultimately, it’s a personal testament to my somewhat complicated relationship and opinions of cannabis.”
Please Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Max: “Please Me is in part inspired by my own struggles in my late teens & early 20’s, and legendary grunge singer Layne Staley’s tragic final years. Initially setting out to write a song about Layne, I ended up drawing a lot of parallels with my own experiences which really transformed the song into something much more personal than I was expecting. The concept of hating the very thing you’re living for and can’t live without is a very dark one to explore, so the music sounding as positive as it does set against the darker lyrics is a very interesting and complex balance to achieve. With all said & done we’ve managed to toe that line rather well we think.”
Swing
Coxy: “I penned the lyrics to this song in what was the lowest point of my life to date. I don’t want to dwell on the specifics that got me there as ultimately that is for the listener to decide what the song means to them. As dramatic as they are, the words that were written were very real at the time and in fact gave me an outlet to express these thoughts in the healthiest possible way. I feel I captured the sense of desperation of knowing that you are the only one that can help yourself when you can’t escape the depths of your own mind. When Max presented the musical idea, I knew had the words to double down on its harrowing nature.”
Behind You
Coxy: “I received a phone call from my Dad and my perspective of life changed forever, I immediately had to come to terms with the fact that my father isn’t immortal. I don’t want to dwell on that further, everything I wanted to say is in the song. What I would like to do is tell you about what happened after I put the phone down from my Dad and the events that led to finishing this song. As I have known him all my life, with our fathers meeting in the 80s, the first person I called was Max. Inconsolable I explained the situation and we agreed to meet a few days later. At which point I had started to write what would become Behind You. I turned up to Maxs with a bottle of whiskey and we hashed it out. As we began to go through pre production and recording of the album and this song, I became so acutely aware that I don’t just have a brother in Max, we were a band of brothers. From hearing Josh’s first vocal demo, to Jack and Max recording my Dad’s heartbeat without me knowing to put on the song, to Max’s solo and Dave (producer) composing the real three piece string section. Everyone gave me a gift and frankly I have never felt love like it, to them it was only about me being truly happy with the song, that is when I realised we will run through walls for each other. I have cried more than I’d care to admit, for my Dad, the situation, for myself but I have also cried because I just couldn’t, and still can’t, believe how much my band mates cared. To my brothers, including you Dave, thank you for the gift of a lifetime.”
Waste
Josh: “Feeling like you aren’t good enough? Or that no matter what you do, success isn’t an option? “Waste” is a tale of negative mental health, self-destructive tendencies and their lingering effect on self-worth or hopefulness. Cheery, right?
Thankfully you’re in for a treat with the hooky riffs and bouncy basslines that surround this track, providing a steady headbanger that widens into a spacious and melodic chorus. Pre-prod was massive on this song, we had lots of fun with all the backing vocals and guitar/bass tones.”
Lady In Wait
Coxy: “Musically this song is the oldest on the record and lyrically it has been rewritten three times. Collectively we were out of lyrical ideas to match the music and after rehearsals one night I sat in the car and it just came to me. In the end I penned these lyrics in half an hour. This song is a very raw account of the demise of a relationship, clearly dealing with the pain that entails whilst holding on to some hope that one day all wrongs will be righted. The song is in two halves really, one side demonstrating the venom and warning to others to avoid such heartbreak and the other acknowledging, despite everything, I still see the beauty in her and what was our beautifully bohemian relationship.”
Lazy Brian
Josh “Originally dubbed “Lazy Brain”, the title of this track solidified when our bassist made a spelling mistake, setting into motion inside jokes of a lazy band mascot, called Brian. The main riff (courtesy of rhythm guitarist Coxy) is cheeky and playful, something we wanted to emphasize throughout the track. Very naturally vocals and drums seemed to meld together, with expressive melodies being supported rhythmically throughout. As far as the topic of “Lazy Brian”, the chorus sums it up well, not wanting to care anymore and struggling with motivation.”
For more on The Rattlebacks, see – https://linktr.ee/