Rat Wakes Red profile picture

Rat Wakes Red

Underneath, the real kid.

About Me

Based in NYC, Rat Wakes Red began as James Raftery creating songs in late night living room light. Odes to longing and loss, they found their way to producer Jeral Benjamin. Together they went into the studio with an engineer, 32 tracks, and using only James' guitar, voice, found-sound percussion, and Jeral's viola, created "Dizzy on Daddy", a lush, elegantly spinning song cycle of heartache and yearning. Romantic and edgy, cryptic and poetic. A sad and sweet wall of sound. Brim-full with sad melody, multiple harmonies and strings. "Dizzy on Daddy" was in rotation on over fifty stations nationwide, hitting CMJ Top 30 on three. Also, Rat Wakes Red was picked to be one of a select few bands to launch XM Satellite Radio's Unsigned Station.
In 2006, Rat Wakes Red released "Horizon Drops". Electric guitar, keys, drums, and bass provide the flipside to the previous acoustic rush. The songs are louder, faster and rock, with James' voice returning in harmonic hooks and cryptic choruses. Christy Davis (Kansas State Flower and Mold) played the kit while James strummed, picked, played and sang everything else with Jeral returning to produce and John Werner joining them on tracks 7 & 9 playing electric guitar. Radio quickly took notice. "Horizon Drops" was CMJ and AAA Top 30 on sixteen stations and spun on more than 100 across the USA and Canada.
In 2007, Rat Wakes Red emerged from the studio with new sounds and a new four song ep/dvd, Energy Garage, which began life during the sessions for Horizon Drops and was completed for this new collection. Three new songs, "Energy Garage", "You" and "Be Kissed" are spacey acoustic folk, pop with sweeping strings, and quirky rock nugget. "Anyway Now", originally released on Horizon Drops, shows up again on track 4 and as a music video on the dvd. Some new music and visuals to tie you over until the new full-length project is born. Recording is now under way and proving to be yet another departure as well as a new return to form.
Rat Wakes Red has played live shows from Toronto to New York City and opened for such artists as Bob Mould, Hayden, and Sloan.
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/11/2005
Band Website: ratwakesred.com
Band Members:

James Raftery live and on recordings performs: Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, keyboard and sounds with: Live: Matt Raftery, drums and Andy K., electric bass. On "Dizzy on Daddy" & "Energy Garage" with Jeral Benjamin, viola. On "Horizon Drops" & "Energy Garage" with Christy Davis, drums & John Werner, electric guitar (tracks 7 & 9)


"Energy Garage" BUY NOW

"Horizon Drops" BUY NOW

"Weekend" EP BUY NOW

"Dizzy on Daddy" BUY NOW

Rat Logo T-Shirt BUY NOW

Dizzy on Daddy Poster 18 X 24 Full Color BUY NOW



Sounds Like: CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OUR REVIEWS

The Ectophiles' Guide
04 May 2008
Rat Wakes Red returns with a folksy and intriguing EP, only four songs but they really hit the mark. "Energy Garage" itself is soft folk with a superlative vocal. "You" is dreamy and reminds me of Red House Painters, in its slow hush. The EP is over way too soon and whets the appetite for a new album.

The Big Takeover, Issue 61, Winter 07/08, Jack Rabid With each release, New Yorker James Raftery impresses more. Although one thinks of him as a modern folkie in the Kristin Hersh "Your Ghost" vein, it's electric guitars that make this quiet sound on the oddly named "Energy Garage". (It's actually more like a nice afternoon nap.) Bouts of guitar texture seem to tumble down from nowhere to add a mournful quality to Raftery's Elliot Smith-like voice. And when producer Jeral Benjamin brings back her violas (regrettably missing from the sophomore Horizon Drops) on "You", it's like your well-thumbed This Mortal Coil records, with light drums and bass to add to a light breeze. Lovely!... Time for LP 3!

Sentimentalist, Issue 26, Fall 2007, Cleo
Rat Wakes Red's approach is a fragile balance between cocksure and vulnerable, drawing you in immediately. Songwriter James Raftery has a knack for switching between intensity ("Spider") and sublime introspection ("Lovely Invalid") with the greatest of ease, making for a dynamic listen.

The Big Takeover, Issue 59, Winter 2007, Jack Rabid
...an intriguing, totally new direction...like the particular later-'80s 4AD period when Ivo Watts Russell was fixated on Pixies and Throwing Muses, with loopy harsh guitar, beat, and cooed vocal...with a bit of what you liked about Weezer's radio hits...

The Big Takeover, Issue 58, Spring 2006, Mark Suppanz
...Jeral Benjamin returns to provide typically excellent, warm production...Raftery's multi-tracked, Elliot Smith-like voice still beguiles, ensuring plenty of lovely moments... Further, Davis's dynamic stick-work not only adds more of a post-punk edginess and tension, but also allows Raftery to infuse each song with varied and shifting loud/soft moods...

The Big Takeover, Issue 48, Jack Rabid
Acoustic folk guitar and viola, with a whispery, troubled voice? Yes please! Rat Wakes Red is a strange moniker for such an exquisite murmur...

Grave Concerns E-zine, May 5, 2006, Joshua Heinrich
Based in well-crafted pop sensibilities, Rat Wakes Red's Horizon Drops is, without a doubt, a significant stylistic departure from the band's previous output, but it's also one that works...

Dizzy on Daddy, is something of a foray into the duality of light and dark, moody melancholia juxtaposed against airier, more upbeat offerings...is permeated by strong songwriting by central member James Raftery and excellent production from violist Jeral Benjamin...

Alarm Magazine, Eddie Fournier
Raftery is quite the storyteller, which is part of what breaks your heart, because it often sounds as though he is speaking directly to you...

Boston's Weekly Dig, Graham Wilson
Rat Wakes Red blends neo-gothic-folk with modern 21st century recording to produce a sublime sonic sedation of melodies...

Reno Gazette-Journal, Mark Earnest
Fans of the darker side of mellowness (or classic 4AD records) should seek it out...

hEARd Magazine, Australia
A superbly crafted release...Every song without exception sees this most interesting of bands make their mark on your mind...about as good as it gets...

Splendid Ezine, Deirdre Devers
Rat Wakes Red...pay(s) homage to the likes of Kristin Hersh, Kate Bush and Leonard Cohen, who also make pain and loss the cornerstone of their musical melodramas...

NY Rock, Bill Ribas
...the purity and simplicity of the instrumentation, the sense of sadness culled from the lyrics, and the pop folk feel together all sounds so refreshing it's hard to get the disc out of the player...


Record Label: Rat Disk
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

new review in ectophiles guide to good music

Energy Garage has been entered and reviewed in the Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music. The author also added a quick second review to Horizon Drops. How nice. I love the Ectophiles' Guide and am happy th...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Tue, 06 May 2008 10:30:00 PST

meet bridgit

Introducing the official Rat Wakes Red Bridgit, a widget that has link buttons to all the RWR pages online along with a video/music player. Click here to add it to your Facebook profile/page.form {pad...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:49:00 PST

listen to last

Besides the Rat Wakes Red page on Last.FM, there’s my user page at last.fm/user/ratwakesred if you want to see what’s playing on my computer these days. Alas, we just can’t scrobble ...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:49:00 PST

okay, its official. other music!!!

Okay, it's now officially official. Rat Wakes Red's Energy Garage ep/dvd is finally, really available at NYC's Other Music, the best record store in the world. RWR is listed right under Radiohead's LP...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:50:00 PST

some time this year

Work on the new full-length project is beginning again this winter. I hope to have it completed before the beginning of summer. Of course, I will keep you updated. In the meantime I am awaiting the re...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:02:00 PST

new review in big takeover

Jack Rabid gives Energy Garage a nice one in his review section in the latest issue of The Big Takeover, Issue 61. It's the one with A.C. Newman on the cover. You can read the review on the profile pa...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:37:00 PST

energy garage at other music, nyc!

Other Music, NYC will be offering Energy Garage at their store at 15 E.4th St. Please check out this amazing store and website. I am honored they will be carrying it. Stop by and look over their incre...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:26:00 PST

the kiss

"The Kiss" from this album is astonishing. Simply one of the best songs, ever. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:31:00 PST

rwr on xm satellite radio this thanksgiving night!

Rat Wakes Red will be featured on XM SATELLiTE RADiO this Thanksgiving, November 22nd at 10PM ET on The Radar Report on XMU Channel 43.The Radar Report is a special feature highlighting XMU's most not...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:30:00 PST

eg

I know my last blog stated this fact, but Energy Garage, the new ep/dvd is out there in the world. The little whippersnapper!By the way, Amazon has the price all wrong! If you want to own it, please v...
Posted by Rat Wakes Red on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:59:00 PST