Rattle announce debut album due out on Upset the Rhythm on 5 August + reveal track “Stringer Bell”

Nottingham based drumming duo RATTLE release their eponymous debut LP via Upset the Rhythm/I Own You on 5 August. Rattle focus almost exclusively on drums and more drums, beneath a delicate overlay of vocal harmonies and percussive effects. Formed by Katharine Eira Brown (also of Kogumaza) and Theresa Wrigley (also of Fists), Rattle began as an experiment in crafting rich songs and melody using drums and voice alone. Their music weaves and intertwines post-punk, minimalism and experimental rock, through off-kilter rhythms, patterns and counter melodies. Their live performances are at once hypnotic, monastic and danceable, having entranced audiences at Supersonic Festival, Dot to Dot, throughout the UK during a recent tour with Witching Waves and in Europe with Zea (Arnold de Boer from The Ex). The band will be performing at the Supernormal festival in August along with other gigs and festivals over the summer (see below).

Rattle shared the track “Stringer Bell“ via Clash, who said; “Named in honour of the character from The Wire, it swaps the grit of Baltimore for something altogether more charming, naive, and English….their sparse, oddly hypnotic music sounds utterly unique.” Katharine from the band describes it as a cocktail song, as she explains; “I think I was ready to hear a song that you might hear at a busy cocktail party in a city apartment in the 1950s. We played with a lot of percussion on this one, you can hear the sound of the lonely mountain goat, the air freshener, the guiro. The glam rock section at the end is one of our favourite bits of the album.”

The duo formed quite by accident in Nottingham in 2011, where Katharine and Theresa knew each other from playing in other local bands. Katharine was a guitarist who had recently started playing drums in the band Kogumaza and Theresa is the enthralling drummer from Fists. They originally met up to skill swap guitars and drums but soon enough they found they were having more fun with a double drum set-up and started making the sound of their first song “Boom”, which became a blueprint for their new band’s sound. As Katharine explains; “It seemed obvious right from the start that nothing else was going to be required in terms of instruments.”

They wanted to find a band name that was onomatopoeic and Rattle fit perfectly. Their set-up remained roughly the same as from that very first rehearsal. The minimal framework meant that they had to use their imagination and think of different ways to create new songs using the same simple ingredients. They honed their sound live, with the drums set up facing each other which allowed a dramatic interplay between the players, lending a theatrical element to their performances.

Sunday 20th June – Sineater Festival, Ratlinghope
Sunday 24th July, Tramlines Festival, at Sheffield Picture House Social
Sunday 7th August – Supernormal Festival, Oxfordshire
Monday 22nd August, Chameleon, Nottingham with Massicot
Sunday 9th September, International Beer Festival, Leeds