It's great to see a band so plugged into a scene that they sound almost nothing like.
Like Rats is a raging Chicago hardcore band. Citing influences such as Celtic Frost and Discharge, they manage to inject a much-needed shot of variety into a region that often finds itself heavy-handed in one variety of punk music for long periods of time.
Enclosed in this post is last year's demo, along with the MP3s of their upcoming 7".
The 2009 demo might have been my favorite demo of last year. Riff-heavy, crushing hardcore that cannot disappoint. Both thrashing and heavy, it's something everyone should have in their rotation.
What excites me the most about their as-of-yet released 7" is that Like Rats manage to break out of their old formulas, making for a record that both sounds like the band and signals a new direction at the same time. You can still feel all of the old influence in this album, but Like Rats pushes as hard as they can to make an even heavier collection of songs that still stays true to their roots. You don't often find a lot of that in any genre of music, with bands either totally changing directions with each album or becoming increasingly stagnant in sound. Like Rats' ability to keep things fresh without straying too hard or copying their old material only solidifies them as one of my current favorite local bands. Buy this fucker on vinyl when it drops.
