Reviewed by: Dorothy Pawlowski

Published:  8 December 2011

ep: rats, thieves and liars

'Rats, Thieves and Liars' is the second release this year for Adelaide outfit Ride into the Sun, both being EPs. I initially though this was a short album, clocking in as it apparently does at around 30 minutes in total, but the final (11 minute) track, “Spill”, has a couple of sneaky extras tacked on interspersed with several minutes of silence each, giving an inflated playtime. So much for facts and figures.

I have heard both of this band’s releases on local radio station 3D where they have enjoyed a lot of airplay this year, but hearing is not the same as listening so I was interested in reviewing this EP. Rats offers 6 tracks recorded at Hillside Studios and produced by the band in conjunction with Matt Hills (OK, we haven’t quite finished with the facts and figures). I would describe the overall feel of Ride into the Sun’s music as 21st century acid rock, particularly the instrumentation and as emphasised by the production on this EP, i.e.: lots of reverb on everything, “wall of guitars” and the distortion on vocals.

The opening track, 'Hills', (aka 'Run for the Hills' on their website) is reminiscent of The Black Angels, though I confess that after spinning this one a couple of times another nagging thought kept coming to my mind which I finally nailed as a superficial similarity to God’s 'My Pal'. Well written, well played, good hooks.

Track 2, the reverb drenched 'Enemy' is similar, now sounding a bit like late New Order (what was that album called - Crystal?) and features big anthemic build-ups with some nice spacey guitar. 'Realise' brings down the pace somewhat but is really the same trip again, firmly nailing Ride into the Sun inside the shoegaze box. Of course they do it very well and compare favourably against the international acts of the genre.

'Goodbye' is a little more primitive, wandering into Jesus and Mary Chain territory before leading us into the final track 'Spill' which sits squarely back in the post-psychedelic shoegaze, devolving into the aforementioned soundscapes via a tasteful feedback ending.

Overall the sound on this offering is a bit washy, even muddy at times - an issue which is hard to avoid with all that reverb. But on the other hand, that’s definitely a feature of the genre, so I’m thinking this is probably deliberate. This EP certainly has tonnes of atmosphere and the big hooks and build-ups really capture the listener at that visceral level. 'Rats, Thieves and Liars' may be generic but it is undeniably well composed, delivered and produced - up there with the big names of this style. Give it a spin.