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Grimy and entertaining synth punk project Toilet Rats, conceived and performed by Tommy Ratz, will be releasing IV on all major streaming platforms and Bandcamp on March 3 (and on cassette via Steadfast Records). Today, we are premiering the video for new single ‘Oskar & Eli’.

"'Oskar & Eli' is based upon characters from and is a shout out to the Swedish vampire movie, Let The Right One In,” says Ratz. “It's the story of a bullied boy who develops a friendship with a strange peer in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s.'Oskar & Eli' also features a cameo from horror-punks Pumpkin Guts, who are friends of Toilet Rats. Musically, the song is a mix of Jawbreaker and The Cure, showcasing ghostly synths and a wall of guitars."

Ratz is allegedly an elusive character who allegedly operates out of a small studio in the sewers beneath Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is surrounded by synthesizers, guitars, and fastfood wrappers. Unable to get internet or television signals in the sewer, Ratz collects discarded VHS tapes, audio cassettes, and discarded brochures, which inform his sense of reality and worldview. As a result, he is regularly expectant of national threats that have long passed, and wildly behind on trends and cultural norms… Because he listens to discarded cassette tapes to satiate his musical cravings, Toilet Rats music influences and output is an amalgamation of synth pop, thrash metal, and spaghetti western soundtracks.”

In reality, Tommy Ratz is a pseudonym for Thomas Rehbein, who has played with Minneapolis bands Naive Sense, Farewell Continental, Robosapien, and Small Towns Burn A Little Slower, and others. He has also produced recordings for artists such as Justin Courtney Pierre (of Motion City Soundtrack), Party House, and Zaq Baker, to name a few.

The rest of the songs that make up the new album are a combination of a variety of musical influences ranging from Jawbreaker, DEVO, Nine Inch Nails, Jawbox, Depeche Mode, Ennio Morricone, Lard, Run DMC, Ramones, Powerplant, and others with lyrics primarily inspired by vintage horror and sci-fi movies to create a succinct rock album that, though well produced, never takes itself too seriously.