5 out of 5

Label: Amish Records

Produced by: Joel Hatstat (mastered by)

Whenever complementary albums / EPs arrive on the heels of a preceding release, I admittedly approach with some hesitance: why was this stuff not included on the main album; why release it so soon after – is the material not strong enough to stand on its own?

See, because I clearly know better than the people making the music, or the marketing team / label folks putting it out, any pitch where album B somehow enhances album A is rightly questioned as some kind of excuse to dupe we simple fans into buying subpar material.

You may have, at this point, been reminded that I’m an idiot. But even that aside, Brave Rats isn’t a sister release of any sorts – this is an association completely made up based on Sunwatchers dropping this so soon after Oh Yeah? – and the Whys posted above are also addressed in that this is half EP / half odds and sods; a misfit of a set that might as well been released at any point, but rather perfectly replies to Yeah?s boast of positivity with a laidback charm.

It is a complementary listen, without claiming to be. It both stands on its own and is cyclically enhanced by / enhances its sister release.

The media copy for the title track gives some background on the inspiratory visual: essentially, rats as survivors. That’s a kind of realist inversion of Oh Yeah?, but effected with Sunwatchers buoyant psychedelia, leading to grooves that are grabbing without being showy, and a runtime that perfectly allows for some explorations (the brutalist ragga of Saxz; the ritualistic swoon of closer soundtrack extra Pedal One) which don’t throw off the experience. Elswhere, the group boasts its sunny riffage that leans more psych (as on the title track) or jazz, with a cover of Ptah, The El Daoud, all happening in absolutely perfect quantities.

While seemingly not the deepest of sets, that ultimately feels like exactly the purpose, which does deepen things. Brave Rats is a great EP to chill between more boisterous Sunwatchers releases, telling their story to this point with earned confidence.