Rat Boy - Government Vacation (Review)
What Rat Boy offers is an alternative to YUNGBLUD...
3rd January 2020
SCUM Records
My Rating:
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5.6
/10
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REVIEW
Rat Boy has captured my interest since around the time of his debut album Scum, a record that both impressed and disappointed me due to its standout moments but overall poor writing and all too many duds to be enjoyable. Less than a year later, his Civil Disorder mixtape was much of the same, but more consistent and enjoyable. The same could not be said for his second album Internationally Unknown, a sophomore slump if ever there was one. It took his sound in a lethargic britpop direction that slowed down the pace in a huge misunderstanding of what made Rat Boy's music at all fun to listen to. So, what comes out of his new Government Vacation mixtape?
For one, this is a probably his best produced project to date, the very first song ("VICTIM OF A SYSTEM") being accompanied by some delightful horns that add a lot to a sound that's been desperately in need of some differentiation. The tropical tinged beat helps to sell the horns, and despite being typically repetitive this is a song that shows positive growth in an artist I previously thought would fail to break the mold they'd set for themself.
This positive growth is continued on the rollicking "TIME ON MY MIND", a track that introduces itself with some early Arctic Monkeys era guitar riffs that continue to build until the first of two interesting bridges, both of which peel back the layers for a surprisingly effective trap beat that allows for an almost Western sounding guitar to add some welcome atmosphere to the track before it picks itself up with the next verse. Overall, this is just a really well put together song and a further indication of the progress Rat Boy is making in becoming a better artist.
Unfortunately, the progressions just couldn't last as the Gorillaz influenced "TRUTH OF THE SYSTEM" takes the mixtape's overly repetitive flaw to a new degree with its refrain, as well as failing to deliver on the same interesting instrumental choices that made the previous two tracks standouts. Following this is "REWIND", a ballad of sorts that has some average writing but is really let down by the generic trap beat and atmospheric but underwhelming instrumental that would have been better complimented with a more minimalistic beat to bring out the restraint that the rest of the song exudes. It had potential, but it utterly squandered it and is sadly the mixtape's weakest track.
The Gorillaz influence is returned to with "BUMPY ROAD", a reasonably catchy track that again suffers from a lack of differentiation within the track itself, mostly due to the now insufferable repetition. Yes it has a gorgeous ending, but that 15 seconds of the track doesn't make up for how redundant this feels, and the closing track "GOVERNMENT VACATION" does very little to convince me of the capitalisation on new ideas that I hoped would happen after the first two tracks.
Overall, this is unfortunately another disappointing record from Rat Boy, albeit the first one in two years that has me excited due to the expansion of his sound that has occured. Things could have been improved if the horns from "TIME ON MY MIND" were utilised throughout the mixtape, and replacing the tacky trap beats with either the tropical rhythms of track 1 or a more minimalistic beat to compliment the atmosphere that has to be the one consistent highlight of this project.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. VICTIM OF A SYSTEM - 7
2. TIME ON MY MIND - 8
3. TRUTH OF THE YOUTH - 4
4. REWIND - 3
5. BUMPY ROAD - 6
6. GOVERNMENT VACATION - 4
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 5
Atmosphere: 8
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 7
Content/Ideas: 7
Emotion/Engaging: 4
Execution: 5
Production: 7
Structure: 3
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Lyrics: 4
Vocals/Flow: 6
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Total: 56
Watch the music video for "TIME ON MY MIND"
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