Rat Saw God

Noisy, refreshingly messy and feral (for a band this well known) rock from Asheville, North Carolina. Heavy country and shoegaze influences; they have a dedicated lap steel player, but this is 180 degrees from squeaky clean Nashville pop. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Karly Hartzman writes with witty precision about the surreal, chaotic underside of daily life in suburban and rural America. RIYL Big Thief, MJ Lenderman (who's in this band), 22• Halo, Sparklehorse, Duster, Lomelda. Favorites: 2, 3, 4, 7. FCC WARNING: 1, 5, 6, 10.

1. (1:35)—FCC (f***). Mid-tempo, heavy, strong shoegaze feel.
2. *(8:30)—Medium-fast, dissonant and powerful, with a slow and crushingly loud ending over which Hartzman screams like a six-year old about watching her friends play Mortal Kombat.
3. *(2:18)—Medium-fast, bright and catchy, about getting electrocuted at band practice.
4. *(2:52)—Slow and gentle. Acoustic strumming, clean pedal steel. Pretty.
5. (5:32)—FCC (s***, p***). Medium-slow. Love song modeled on classic country.
6. (3:10)—FCC (p***). Mid-tempo, noisy, a little screamy.
7. *(4:07)—Mid-tempo. Joyous, wry, scuzzy pop; the verse melodies are pulled straight from The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" (as former KZSU DJ awyeh pointed out to me).
8. (4:05)—Starts slow and quiet before building and becoming fast, bash-out rock.
9. (2:32)—Slow, with lots of restrained brooding atmosphere.
10. (2:22)—FCC (f***). Mid-tempo, driving, with clean guitar but lots of high feedback.