28th February 2025
Christopher Nosnibor
It seems that the world is devolving, and that stupidity is not only rewarded, but aspired to. It’s been a decline we’ve been witnessing for some time now, and seems to have really become popular currency at an accelerating pace since the advent of ‘reality’ TV. Jade Goody’s career was founded on her complete lack of knowledge of anything, paired with her superabundant willingness to spout her ignorance to the world with pride. The fact she was also an obnoxious racist seems to have been forgiven with her dying young after something of a media rehabilitation. Then we had to endure the moronic pronouncements of Joey Essex, who apparently believed that a turtle’s beak was made of wood, and while some laughed at him and some laughed with him, people lapped up the hilarity of his idiocy and in less than a decade, we ended up in a place where being a fuckwit was cool, and, more significantly, bankable. Because that’s what it all boils down to, ultimately. If you’re wealthy and famous, or infamous, who cares why or how, an if you can get rich and famous simply for being a fuckwit, you’re made. The tide of anti-intellectualism has soared to attain a truly unprecedented peak in the last couple of months, with the drivelling orange imbecile deciding that the way to improve education in the USA – already low-ranking globally – is to shut down the Department of Education and withdraw funding for libraries and anything that may actually enrich and educate the lives of citizens.
And yet, for all this, sometimes, you need music that’s kinda dumb, straightforward, catchy, energetic. This was always the appeal of punk, I suppose. It was rousing, got people pumped up, provided a focus and an outlet for anger and frustration, articulating those feelings in simple and relatable terms. Enter gritty Australian quartet Citizen Rat, who combine dirty punk in the vein of Anti-Nowhere League with a dash of metal rowdy rap and cite The Bronx, Turnstile, and Fugazi as reference points. Australia seems to be particularly good for producing energetic punky grungy acts, from DZ Deathrays to Mannequin Death Squad, and you can add Citizen Rat to the list now.
They describe ‘Shut My Mouth’ as ‘a gut-punching anthem about losing yourself in the struggle to please others, battling self-doubt, and fighting to be heard’, and its power lies in its simplicity and directness. And it’s not an exercise in self-pity, either – more a case of self-realisation, self-loathing, and a desire to do better: ‘I’m a piece of shit / I can’t shut my mouth / seems my life is heading south’, the front rat rants.
Stylistically, it compresses a surprising array into its full-throttle three minutes, going from The Beastie Boys to Motorhead, and packing some heavy-duty riffery, too. Its appeal is twofold: first, there’s a compelling sense of humanity here, the torture of self-flagellation over misspeaks and simply talking bollocks because anxiety or beer or brain disconnect, and second, it’s got a monster chorus and some strong hooks. Yes, it’s brash, it’s dumb, but it’s ballsy and it’s entertaining. And that’s a win.
AA
