There is something wonderfully misleading about the title of 72 Rats’ new album, “It All Burns Down Someday.” It sounds like a declaration of defeat, yet the six songs inside are concerned with almost the exact opposite. Graham Bremner takes the world’s collapse as an opportunity to ask what we should do with ourselves while it is still standing. Across just over 23 minutes, the record moves deliberately from friendship and connection through burnout, isolation and self-doubt before arriving at a bruised
sort of acceptance.
RELEASE DATE:
Oct 2: CD, cassette, Bandcamp & Subvert
Oct 9: streaming everywhere
01. Mellow Dramatic
02. Time Goes By
03. I’m Too Tired
04. Hidden
05. Pull Me Back
06. Ready To Roll
Thematically, 72 Rats position themselves within the post-punk and new-wave tradition, pointing toward Talking Heads, R.E.M. and Joy Division as reference points. This time Bremner handles vocals, guitars and bass alongside Epaminondas Trimis on drums and percussion, with Seth Ahnert adding keyboards to three tracks; Michael Springer once again handles the mix and master.
But It All Burns Down Someday is most interesting as a record about emotional maintenance. Opener “Mellow Dramatic” establishes its central relationship immediately: two people taking turns unloading their problems, giving advice, buying another round and helping one another get through whatever comes next. “Time Goes By” expands that idea outward as Bremner pushes against retreat and passivity, urging the listener out of the house and back toward people, places and experiences.
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The album reaches the peak of its tension on “Hidden.” Here Bremner turns the dependable person into a reluctant superhero; the one who can fix the problem, put out the fire and come up with the plan, while nobody notices that he might need rescuing himself. The album closes with “Ready To Roll,” where 72 Rats wisely avoid manufacturing a euphoric resolution. Despite the relentless groove, the narrator remains tired, uncertain and without much idea of what happens next.
The directness is the defining characteristic of the record. Bremner tends to state his ideas rather than bury them inside elaborate imagery, and throw the instrumentation right at you instead of hiding it under glossy production. This isn’t a pretentious album. It’s all about reaching the much smaller realization that nobody really has the answers to life’s great questions.
It All Burns Down Someday makes a compelling case that things matter because they disappear. Friendship matters. Getting outside matters. Admitting you’re exhausted matters. And sometimes progress amounts to little more than making it through today and being ready to roll again tomorrow. For a record preoccupied with endings, 72 Rats have made something surprisingly committed to carrying on.