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Breakout New Zealand alt-star ratbag, neé Sophie Brown, caps off 2023 with a bang, releasing her debut EP, why aren't you laughing? The four-track collection is described as the "first full look" at this exciting new artist, joined by fellow mysterious musicians and bandmates Deemo, Slug, Fritz, and Eugene.

"why aren't you laughing? is your invitation into my world," shares ratbag in a statement. "I've opened the door just a crack, enough for you to see the beginning of what's going on. These 4 songs had been brewing in a big ol' bowl of soup in my head and are now ready to be eaten, by you. It feels quite scary to hand over my songs, like I'm handing pieces of me to the world, but I think it's equally as exciting. I hope you're hungry."

The EP's opener, "dead end kids," is fueled w unyielding adolescent rage. Railing against those who refuse to listen, its wonky guitar opening and vocals, which sits between sung and spoken, suck the listener into a chaotic world full of layers of jangly percussion and thrumming bass. The catchy chorus intersects the more freeform verses, creating a juxtaposition that shows ratbag can follow the "rules" of songwriting but is at her best when she's actively throwing them away.

The following track, "exit girl," simmers in the worlds of punk and shoegaze. Meticulously calculated in its independent rhythms and beats that pulse in time throughout the song, she molds together a scrappy effort that blisters with life as it thrashes between the verses and choruses. Featuring a scratchy electric guitar and catchy piano chords, it's a song that's easy to love in its complexity and buzzes with personality—a splash of horror and a lively grit lures in lovers of alternative and punk sounds into a world crafted for them and their taste. Beyond sound and production, it also features an addictive narrative that ratbag explains as a "claustrophobic circus of clowns." 

The only non-single on the record, "rot in love," is the perfect post-apocalyptic break-up anthem that encapsulates the equally unnerving and mesmerizing universe that we've come to expect from the rising grunge-by-way-of-shoegaze artist. The record ends with her debut single, "rats in my walls," a song about paranoia, recovery, and moving through the darkest days. On the forebodingly whimsical chorus, her lullingly moody vocals croon poignant lines like, "I can hear rats in my walls / Tails taking a toll / I don't want my paracetamol" and "I can hear rats, rats in my walls / Telling my doctor to go home / I don't want to go to sleep alone." She wades through her peaking emotions and tries to put her myriad thoughts to bed while looking for an elusive sanctuary where she can finally get some sleep.

With why aren't you laughing?, the Aucklander brings her twisted and creepy world firmly into reality. Her layered, distinctive music takes cues from shoegaze, grunge, and pop to create unsettling, undeniable earworms. Fans who want to take a longer peek into her wonderfully weird world can find that her TikTok account is a surreal performance art space where she lets the monsters quite literally come out and play. You can see digital animation of the band living in their village and stop-motion of the band at work. Whether it's her music or her efforts to build an alternate reality, ratbag is set to make whatever she damn well pleases without the influence of other people's expectations.

Listen to why aren't you laughing? below: