The essay that makes up the sleeve notes of Stoat’s debut album is an impassioned plea on behalf of the countless bands who do the rounds in lieu of media attention, audience attention and much degree of success.
They are, according to Stoat, the peasants of rock ‘n’ roll who can be seen every night struggling to get a Marshall amp into a two door Ford Fiesta at closing time and Stoat, according to Stoat, are very much one of them.
The thing is, though, Stoat haven’t exactly made it easy for themselves. Operating on the fringes of the Dublin music scene while their contemporaries have gone on to greater things, however fleeting, the three piece are an enigma and Future Come Find Me is one hell of an enigmatic record.
To say that they live in their own little word is an understatement. Track one deals with being dragged off the dole for a job interview, track two is a sea shanty and track three tells of an abortionist who finds God. Aimed at the mass audience it ain’t. With that pressure off their shoulders, Stoat have given themselves the freedom to do what they damn like and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Consequently, some of this record is as excruciating as it can be invigorating. Taking a Butthole Surfers, laissez faire approach to melody and song structure, they then go and surprise us all by delivering a perfect pop nugget in the form of ‘Periscope Down’, just the kind of record that could crop up on one of the specialist evening radio shows and hold its own.
The majority of the rest would have the majority of listeners flipping the dial but Stoat show no desire to be loved on a large scale, they make music because they have to. As the essay puts it, this is the sound of a little group of people being themselves. Power to the people.
SIX/TEN