Gardner, Steve, 198-?, 'Seminal Rats - La Grand Bouffe/Head Rush', Noise for Heroes Magazine
The Seminal Rats don't get the credit they deserve outside of Melbourne, but they're probably one of the better bands still going in Oz...they measure up well to Bored or Hoss or the Dirty Lovers or God or any other heavy rock and roll band out of Melbourne you can think of. I suspect if they put out more records they'd be rated that way too.
    As expected "Bouffe" features some searing guitar licks...this band interprets the phrase "Stooges-influenced" to mean high speed, chaotic playing with intense, blistering riffs. They're strongly reminiscent of Radio Birdman except that their solos are more excessive and in general they sound more out of control. Strong stuff. (there's also a split single with the Celibate Rifles...)

Gardner, Steve, 198-?, 'Seminal Rats - Hot Snapper Pie', Noise for Heroes Magazine
You actually get your choice of at least four titles with this record, depending on whether you read the front, back or spine of the jacket, or the insert inside the thing. The label has no title. It's also on white vinyl. So there's enough gimmicks to keep you pleasantly diverted for quite a few plays. That's when you begin to notice that the imitation Birdman sound of this Melbourne group isn't as satisfying this time around as on their Omnipotent ep...there are some rollicking songs, but by and large it's the sort of thing that probably makes for a fun time at a concert but on record it just isn't cutting it very well this time around. Whether the songs were better last time (I think they were) or whether I'm just hitting saturation on this kind of sound (I think I am), I'm not sure. But I don't find a lot of need to listen to this.

Gardner, Steve, 198-?, 'Seminal Rats - Life In The Necropolis', Noise for Heroes Magazine
Melbourne's Seminal Rats have been one of Australia's darker and nastier Detroit metal type bands for a number of years, though their recorded output has been limited to a couple of pretty good mini-lps.
    This record is that seemingly extinct phenomenon, the two disc live set. The liner notes make a point of the faithful presentation with no overdubs or crowd effects, but in fact it would have improved things a lot if they'd cut out the between song fumbling and thrown out a few songs, reducing the thing to a single lp.
    The playing is really energetic and the Rats have some excellent songs like "Red Planet", "Rat Race" or "Change", all of which neatly combine good hooks and exciting playing. The singing style is a bit yobbish, and on some of the other songs the supply of hooks is limited so you're left with some non-descript tracks played hard and fast. It's a little discouraging that the best songs are all ones that have been previously released (there aren't that many new ones anyway).
    I'd go for the first mini-lp and get this only if you find yourself a fan, which is certainly a possible outcome.

Gardner, Steve, 198-?, 'Seminal Rats - Omnipotent', Noise for Heroes Magazine
Another mini-lp, this one 7 tracks, and this time by a group of Detroit style Birdman damaged Melbourners. The production of this record is really great; it fairly crackles with energy (although the drum kit sounds like it's made of plastic).
    My favorite is "F.U.S.T."... I have no idea what it stands for, but it has a great chorus where the lyrics go "I go back to my sad, sad room and my mind is filled with pain" while the guitars and drums do a real cool alternating stutter/stop bit.
    Unfortunately, they also stuff in some real boring slow guitar soloing in the middle of it. "Red Planet", which is the closer, is another real good one; as good an example of Birdman watching as you could ask for and in fact actually better than a lot of the real thing. "Rat Race" kicking off the lp has a truly awful heavy metal intro with cowbells and all sorts of scary stuff, but after about ten seconds of this it turns into a real kick-butt Detroit slab with more great staggering drum parts. "Change", which closes side one, also hits well.
    In between the good songs are some listenable but unremarkable tracks of similar stuff. I rate this one worth having, but don't expect God. Out in the US on What's Happening now.

Tauschke, Steve, 1998, 'Seminal Rats - Plectrum Muscle', Beat Magazine
One of this town's original jeans n'tee shirt Detroit rock bands revives itself on this fresh batch (the previous release was back in the days of vinyl if I remember correctly).
    This is an album still caught in a time warp (on the bill between Bored and the Rifles at the Old Greek Theatre, if you catch my meaning) and I've always enjoyed the Seminal Rats riffy workman-like tunes and Michael Harley's vocal desperation.
    The oft shitty production efforts in the past (remember the virtually inaudible demo featuring a version of the Stooges' "Gimme Some Skin"?) never seemed to dim the band's crash'n'burn attitude. "Jamm It" for example finds them returning to vintage form. Bravo!