photo by Georgios Grigoriadis; photo courtesy of BJF Media

Single Review of Deaf Rat: “Say Your Lies” (AFM Records)

Sweden’s Deaf Rat are vocalist Frankie Rich and guitarists Pat Kramer and Max Lander. “Say Your Lies” is the band’s most recent single.

image courtesy of BJF Media

Upon first glance at the main lyric, you might think this is simply an updated, more tuneful, more verbose “Shout at the Devil,” and in a roundabout way it isn’t entirely not that, but Deaf Rat’s “Say Your Lies” has a touch more harmonies, tunefulness, and soaring power. And, of course, it’s catchy. You’ll find yourself singing along to “Say your lies before the devil,” but don’t sleep on the guitar hook, which is pretty cool, too. You can hear the classic hard rock influences in the song, elements from guitar-based, anthemic hard rock’s ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s heyday, replete with a pulsing rhythm sure to induce moderate-tempo headbanging and/or air guitar swaying – seriously, there’s some awesome guitar solo shredwork that’s perfect for air guitaring. But Deaf Rat avoids going full-on retro; the band’s style and crisp but heavy production tap into the soaring power of modern melodic hard rock, kind of like AFM Records labelmates Lansdowne but with a more old-school melodic vocal style.

“Say Your Lies” is accompanied by a cool animated lyric video that’s definitely worth checking out.

photo by Georgios Grigoriadis; photo courtesy of BJF Media

A Little Farther Back

In mid-2023, Deaf Rat released its prior single, “Schizophrenic Part of Me.” Melodic hard rock, full of power and wall of sound. Harmonies. Every bit as catchy as “Say Your Lies.” It’s been a while since the last full album from these guys. It’s been since 2019, when Deaf Rat released Ban the Light, and as kickass as the group’s sound was on that disc, judging from the pair of singles the band has released in the past year, Deaf Rat has leveled up. I’m psyched for a full-length album from these kick-ass rockers… soon, I hope?