The Thousands

Rat vs Possum exist in a post-LCD Soundsystem world where rock music can heavily borrow stylistic ideas from funk, dance and mainstream pop without feeling cheap or somehow impure. If you are only aware of the group from their debut Daughter Of Sunshine, this might seem like an odd thing to say. While it had about as much right to call itself ‘world music’ as a Vampire Weekend album, it was still a more earthy and earthly indie record that was accurate in describing itself as “faux-tribal”.

However, on listening to their new album Let Music & Bodies Unite, it’s evident that the influence of electronica and disco has seeped further into their sound since then, altering what they want their band to be – and, crucially, how they want their audience to dance.

‘Never Die’, for instance, is a vocoder-heavy tune that makes it feel like its creators have been stuck in a bunker with only No New York for company, while the lively rhythms and brash synth work of ‘Beat Inside You’ and ‘Home (N0)’ sound desperate to be given a chance to ignite a dancefloor somewhere as soon as possible.

It certainly makes Rat vs Possum appear bolder and, ironically for a record less ‘experimental’ than their last one, more willing to take risks; where Daughter of Sunshine sounded like it intended to visit distant lands, Let Music & Bodies Unite feels like it wants to visit distant galaxies.