theteaclub

(FROM THE ARCHIVE) - "Rat In the Basement" (2015)

Added 2019-04-29 19:13:15 +0000 UTC

This song is actually one of my favorite things that we've ever shared with you beloved Patrons! It's an improv that we recorded during the writing sessions for our 2015 album Grappling, and it's called "Rat In the Basement". It started at practice late one night, when our bassist Jamie Wolff and our drummer-at-the-time Joe Rizzolo found themselves locked into a slinky bass and drum groove. When Pat started creepily whispering "There's a rat in the basement, there's a snake in the grass" into the microphone, it turned into a full on Tom Waits-inspired jam. Luckily we had our Zoom H4N recorder handy and we were able to capture the magic.

I completely blew my voice out screaming in my best Tom Waits impression. I've never abused my voice that badly before, and I remember I couldn't talk AT ALL for days afterwards. How does he do it???

Some of you might recognize the phrase "Rat in the basement", which actually found it's way into the Grappling album after all. I reference it by saying "It can be truly said that I have a rat in the basement" at the end of the song "The Fox In a Hole",

What is the meaning of the phrase "Rat in the Basement", you ask? Does it have any significance? Well, you'll just have to wait until the "Fox In a Hole" issue of our Grappling comic book to be released! These comic books promise to shed some light on the cryptic lyrics of this mysterious album!

Let us know what you think, beloved Patrons!