Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic punk-style guitar rock won them fans from both the indie and skate-punk communities. They found mainstream success with their extended play, Tingles (October 1990), album Blind Love (June 1991) and the single, "Don't Go Now" (April), which all reached No. 1 on the ARIA Charts during 1991. The band released two subsequent albums that did not match their earlier chart success. Ratcat ceased performing live regularly in the late 1990s; however, they continue to perform sporadically. During their career, much of Ratcat's albums and singles artwork was created by Simon Day. Both Day and Levi had been members of garage band, Danger Mouse.

1990–1998: Blind Love and rooArt records

In February 1990, Ratcat supported English group Buzzcocks and fellow Australian band Falling Joys, before signing with the rooArt label, distributed by PolyGram. "That Ain't Bad", the lead track, was Day's "simple attempt to mix noisy guitars and the words 'I love you' together in a song without one contradicting the other." The Canberra Times reviewer opined that it "has had the airplay, but it is not the best track. "Don't Go in the Water", a dire little track, and "Getting Away (From This World)", with its hackneyed but fairly successful insertion of sound from the Challenger shuttle disaster, are both excellent tracks."

According to an Australian Musician Magazine staff writer, Ratcat were the first alternative band to go mainstream – they provided one of the Top 50 Most Significant Moments in Australian Pop/Rock History. The song was co-written by Day and Robyn St. Clare (of the Hummingbirds). For recording, at Paradise Studios, Day, Polin and Zaid were joined by St. Clare and Margaret Urlich on backing vocals; they were produced by Mainsbridge, again.

The group supported fellow Australian group, INXS, on the latter's Australian tour in April and May 1991 and followed by headlining their own Invasion of the Dinosaur Killers Tour in June. Polin described how "We were playing to full houses a lot of the way around... Admittedly, in London about a third of the audiences were Australians but we had sold about 17,000 copies of our album over there." McFarlane opined that these releases "were unable to repeat the spectacular success of their predecessors but kept Ratcat in the public eye."

In October 2023, Ratcat will release All Stripped Back, a re-recording of their greatest hits.

Members

  • Simon Day – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, main songwriter (1985–present)
  • Trevor Wintle – drums (1986–1987)
  • Andrew Polin – drums (1985–1986, 1987–2011)
  • Victor Levi – bass guitar (1985–1988)
  • Cathy Webb – bass guitar (1988)
  • John McAteer – bass guitar (1988–1989)
  • Amr Zaid – bass guitar, backing vocals (1989–1992)
  • Marc Scully – bass guitar (1992–1996)
  • Nic Dalton – bass guitar (1998–present)
  • Reuben Alexander - drums (2011-present)

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details

! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Certifications

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br/>

|-

! scope="row"| This Nightmare

|

  • Released: July 1989
  • Label: Waterfront (DAMP 103)
  • Formats: LP, CD

| 81

|

|-

! scope="row"| Blind Love

|

  • Released: May 1991
  • Label: rooArt (848523)
  • Formats: LP, CD

| 1

|

  • ARIA: Platinum

|-

! scope="row"| Insideout

|

  • Released: November 1992
  • Label: rooArt (4509905532)
  • Formats: CD, cassette

| 59

|

|-

! scope="row"| Easy Rider

|

  • Released: July 1997
  • Label: rooArt (74321492912)
  • Formats: CD

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| All Stripped Back

|

  • Released: 13 October 2023
  • Label: Ratcat
  • Formats: Digital download, streaming

|}

Extended plays

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of extended plays, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| EP details

! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Certifications

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br/>

|-

! scope="row"| Ratcat

|

  • Released: July 1987
  • Label: Waterfront (DAMP 66)
  • Formats: LP, CD

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| Tingles

|

  • Released: October 1990
  • Label: rooArt (878 165)
  • Formats: LP, CD, cassette

| 1

|

  • ARIA: Platinum

|-

! scope="row"| The Smiler

|

  • Released: July 1995
  • Label: rooArt (0630113442)
  • Formats: CD

| 135

|

|-

! scope="row"| Laughing Bag and Other Funny Stories

|

  • Released: July 1997
  • Label: rooArt (74321492932)
  • Formats: CD

| —

|

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:19em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"| Certifications

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Album

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br />

| —

|

|rowspan="2"| This Nightmare

|-

! scope="row"| "Baby's Got a Gun"/”Purple Room”

| —

|

|-

! scope="row"| "Saying Goodbye"

| 1989

| —

|

| non-album single

|-

! scope="row"| "Don't Go Now"

|rowspan="2"| 1991

| 1

|

  • ARIA: Gold

| 1995

| 138

|

| non-album single

|-

! scope="row"| "I Hate the Music" <small> (Ratcat and John Paul Young) </small>

| 1998

| 186

|

| Occasional Course Language <small> (soundtrack)</small>

|}

Other appearances

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of other non-single song appearances

|-

! scope="col" style="width:24em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:1em;"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:18em;"| Album

|-

! scope="row" | "Razor Blades"

| 1986

| On the Waterfront, vol 3 <small>(DAMP 43)</small>

|-

! scope="row" | "The Purple Room"

| 1987

| Fuck or Fuck Off <small>(DAMP 67)</small>

|-

! scope="row" | "Everything You Said"

| 1988

| Hummingbirds/ Ratcat

|-

! scope="row" | "Dead Dog Standing"

| 1989

| I Could'a Been a Contender <small>(DAMP 121)</small>

|-

! scope="row" | "A Christmas Lullaby"

| 1989

| Rockin' Bethlehem <small>(SAW025)</small>

|-

! scope="row" | "You Get Me By"

| 1990

| Youngblood 2

|-

! scope="row" | "Skin"

| 1991

| Triple J Live At The Wireless

|-

! scope="row" | "Tripping on a Blind Date"

| 1998

| Homebake Vol 2

|-

! scope="row" | "That Ain't Bad"/"Don't Go Now"/"You Get Me By"

| 2001

| Rockart - The History Of RooArt Records

|-

! scope="row" | "Electric Lash"

| 2002

| Electric Lash (songs of The Church and Steve Kilby)

|-

! scope="row" | "Hell on Hot Bread"

| 2015

| Manilow Tribute!

|-

|}

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

!

|-

| rowspan="4"|1992

| rowspan="2"| Blind Love

| Breakthrough Artist - Album

|

| rowspan="4"|

|-

| Highest Selling Album

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Nick Mainsbridge for Blind Love and "Don't Go Now"

| Producer of the Year

|

|-

| Engineer of the Year

|

References

  • Ratcat's Simon Day cameos in new Bonds ad, Pedestrian TV, August 11, 2010, retrieved August 17, 2010.
  • [http://www.ratcat.id.au], A Fan Site
  • [http://www.reubenalexander.net/Reuben_Alexander/current.html], Rueben Alexander's site