Blue Rat

After many years in the doldrums of semi-retirement and can't be arsed-ness, 5 mates from South London finally got their arses in gear to show those emo kids how rock n roll should really be done.
Pug - Guitar and Scruff - Vocals (both ex- Tapeworm) got it together in late 2003 with Al - Guitar (ex-Cot Death), Murgy - Drums (ex-Garrett Lane - how South London is that?!) and Dik - Bass (ex-humed).
They spent most of 2004 putting their own stuff together to arrive at a guttural though melodic punk n roll sound forged from their collective love of punk and metal - think Motorhead, Sex Pistols, Dukes of Nothing, The Business, Blitz, The Exploited...
With a set almost ready to be unleashed upon the pubs of south London they finally agreed upon a great name with which to attach to their well crafted musical cacophony - Val Hooligan.
That was until of course some smart arse in the group discovered that a bunch of old Welsh geezers had blagged the name before them, the bastards. This was of course a blessing because Pug and Al had been raving about the brilliantly surreal BBC3 sitcom '15 Storeys High'.
They impressed upon the other members of the still nameless group that the episode 'Blue Rat' would be the perfect name to go with. For those not familiar with the writings of Sean Lock, Blue Rat is a cheap Eastern European version of Red Bull!
So there you have it, the rest of the band needed no more convincing...
In October 2004 Blue Rat were booked into Scream Studios in Croydon where they recorded three tracks (Everything Will Give You Cancer, These Colours & Subvert, Steal and Borrow) for what was to be become the 'Scream Sessions' CD.
To get a feel for where they were heading and of course out of pure vanity they sent copies of the CD to several fanzines to be met with almost unanimous praise;
"Full of energy, rage, attitude and a good rebellious nature they have stuff to say"
Gigs Unlimited
"Gruff vocals and blaring guitars collide over coarse melodies resulting in a sound that's both familiar and fresh"
Punk Rock Reviews
"Bringing old school punk rip roaring back to the present day and no less savage or scathing, they are punk to the core"
The Dukester
With egos royally massaged by the world of amateur punk rock journalism they got it together to play their first gig on February 2nd 2005 at the Grey Horse in Kingston, which was quickly followed by a spate of dates at the Harp Rock Bar in Croydon, the Fighting Cocks in Kingston, Hope and Anchor, Islington amongst others...
A reasonably impressive CV of supports can be counted amongst their first dozen or so gigs (999/ Anti Nowhere League/ TV Smith / Axis of Evil / The Midnight Creeps / Cambian Dawn).
At the arse end of 2006 they decided to take a bit of a break with the thought of getting things back together in the early part of 2007. Unfortunately Blue Rat fizzled away and never got it back on. They still meet up for drinks occasionally and drunkenly slur about how they were glad to have done it.