Rat Life Records returns

Preview the two obscure and Cold War-inspired tracks from Rat Life Records’ second release.

As we reported back in January, Rat Life is a a new sub-label from Dresden’s Uncanny Valley crew that’s curated by Credit 00. Upon launching the label they explained their intentions are to reflect the “imperfect spirit of life in dirty raw dance music and its natural environment,”. For this second release Rat Life invites the listener to imagine it’s the early ’80s during the peak of the Cold War, where you don’t feel like joining the army. “What you gonna do?” the press release reads, “you could crash your dads car into the next bridge,” or, “just move to the island of west Berlin and buy a drum machine.” The press release goes on to explain that Neue Wohnkultur “is one of those bands started by renegades hiding from military service in the American sector of the German capital.”

Further research proves this may not be too far from the truth as the enigmatic outfit appeared on two obscure cassette releases during the early-to-mid-’80s on two equally arcane tape labels. And there’s no denying there’s a revolutionary feel to their track “Wir sind Soldaten ” which has been cut up by M.o.m.O, a lesser spotted act from the Nation stable. Meanwhile on the B-side, Mick Wills delivers a Regis-styled power loop techno take on female duo Autonervous that Rat Life describe as “not a big pleasure for home listening but its on you to make it interesting, you could mix it with your dads old records or (use) a crab [sic] mic and rap over it 

(please don’t rap over it).” Preview these two intriguing productions below.