Alicja Pop - Rats: Home Recordings 2009-2013 – New LP

"Alicja-Pop AKA Alicja Trout, Memphis's favorite daughter and among many other things of Lost Sounds fame and the River City Tanlines brings us via Certified PR Records a look into another aspect of her vast musical skills with the release of these legit home recordings recorded between 2009 and 2013. Six of these ten tracks have never seen the light of day and currently only one of these tracks is in print (and just barely... a 7" on Certified PR, 50 copies away from being sold out).  Alicja also has gone all Paul McCartney on us because Alicja is doing 100% of the instruments, all the production and the recording herself. Alicja does a superb job in every hat she is wearing for Rats including of course the songwriting. 
This record starts out with Shinning Apple (from the out of print 7" on Certified PR), a song that is keyboard driven and reminds me of a combination of Mark Mothersbaugh's work on the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou combined with the band Lush. Close UR Eyes has keyboards that musically transport me to the moon and guitar that brings me back to earth with the after taste of the band Wire as the only side effect of Earth to Moon travel.  Don't Say No (#2) picks up the tempo as this song races me through a grocery store that is short on food but long on great guitar driven songs. I Play The Fool appeared on the very soon to be out of print 7" of the same name on Certified PR and this track down right shifts into 5th gear as soon as the flag goes down and leaps off the starting line. I love everything about this song especially the lyrics. If justice ever happens this song somehow someday will be a hit.  Side one ends with another rocker with I Can't Remember that bangs away with a Ramones a la Memphis coating.  Side two starts out with a moody slower tune entitled Shadow Hills that makes her vocals shine. Love Is... (the last of the previously released tracks and now unavailable elsewhere) puts the record back into total rocker mode. Can't dislike a love song that gets your toes tapping with swirling keyboards and blasts of guitar that hit my ears like ray guns. Sleepwalker Or Sweet Talker, my favorite track on this album has the punk rock/glam rock/garage rock motif dialed in at 11. Calm World reminds me of a fictional East Berlin were hope was in the air not the oppression of the Eastern Bloc.
Rats ends with Tunnel Around With Me (a fitting song title for an album named Rats), another great song that fired me up for the next time I am lucky enough to see Alicja perform live which has been too long (I haven't seen her perform since seeing the River City Tanlines at the Blackout over a decade ago.)" - Tom Smith AKA Timebomb Tom.