Biography
David West operates Rat Columns as the guitar-driven indie pop outlet among his many endeavors, pursuing a song-oriented approach that fuses jangle with fuzz textures. The project's initial releases lean heavily into distortion and draw extensively from Dinosaur Jr., yet West steered the sound toward pristine clarity on 2021’s Pacific Kiss, aligning it with the noisier edges of the Sarah Records catalog. Defying expectations once more, he adopted a murkier and less hook-driven direction for 2023's Babydoll.
West's other involvements encompass Total Control, Burning Sensations, Rank/Xerox, and Lace Curtains, alongside solo releases and material issued as Liberation. Rat Columns functions as the vehicle for his lightest and most pop-oriented material, positioned between the freewheeling style of Belle and Sebastian and a hypothetical jangling version of peak-era Dinosaur Jr. The band's debut arrived as a self-titled 7" in 2011, followed the next year by the Sceptre Hole album. Alongside West handling vocals and guitars, the lineup included Matt Bleyle on drums plus Jonathan Young contributing guitar, keys, and vocals.
Subsequent years focused on separate ventures, delaying further Rat Columns output until 2014, when both the "Stay" single and the Kelley Stoltz-produced Leaf album appeared. Ex-Eddy Current Suppression Ring member and Total Control colleague Mikey Young began assisting on keyboards and percussion during this period. Two EPs, Do You Remember Real Pain? and Fooling Around, surfaced in 2015. By the time sessions began for the following album, the roster had evolved to feature keyboardist Louis Hooper, bassist/vocalist Amber Gempton, and drummer Chris Cobilis. Recording took place in the small Perth suburb of Guildford, resulting in Candle Power, issued in March 2017 via Upset the Rhythm; the record merged prior indie pop tendencies with disco rhythms and subtle experimental touches.
West then concentrated on other work, issuing two volumes of synthesizer instrumentals as Scythe in 2019 and an electro-pop collection under the Liberation name in 2020. Upon reconvening, Rat Columns featured bassist Max Schneider-Schumacher, drummer Dylan Stjepovic, and keyboardist Joey Fishman during Brooklyn tracking, with additional sessions held in Perth. Amber Gempton and Raven Mahon of the Green Child supplied vocals, Jef Brown contributed saxophone, and Mikey Young handled mixing while adding certain guitar solos. Pacific Kiss emerged in early 2021 as the band's clearest and most melodic effort to date. For the next album, West assembled Taylah McLean, Chris Grunwaldt, Richard Ingham, Cohen Bourgault, and Scott Payne—the final two having collaborated with him earlier—and chose distinctive recording sites including a 1960s-era office building and an industrial unit. Both locations encouraged a denser, more melodically diffuse approach. The resulting Babydoll tracks from 2023 proved darker and more extended, evoking the gloomier aspects of shoegaze more than prior band work.
West's other involvements encompass Total Control, Burning Sensations, Rank/Xerox, and Lace Curtains, alongside solo releases and material issued as Liberation. Rat Columns functions as the vehicle for his lightest and most pop-oriented material, positioned between the freewheeling style of Belle and Sebastian and a hypothetical jangling version of peak-era Dinosaur Jr. The band's debut arrived as a self-titled 7" in 2011, followed the next year by the Sceptre Hole album. Alongside West handling vocals and guitars, the lineup included Matt Bleyle on drums plus Jonathan Young contributing guitar, keys, and vocals.
Subsequent years focused on separate ventures, delaying further Rat Columns output until 2014, when both the "Stay" single and the Kelley Stoltz-produced Leaf album appeared. Ex-Eddy Current Suppression Ring member and Total Control colleague Mikey Young began assisting on keyboards and percussion during this period. Two EPs, Do You Remember Real Pain? and Fooling Around, surfaced in 2015. By the time sessions began for the following album, the roster had evolved to feature keyboardist Louis Hooper, bassist/vocalist Amber Gempton, and drummer Chris Cobilis. Recording took place in the small Perth suburb of Guildford, resulting in Candle Power, issued in March 2017 via Upset the Rhythm; the record merged prior indie pop tendencies with disco rhythms and subtle experimental touches.
West then concentrated on other work, issuing two volumes of synthesizer instrumentals as Scythe in 2019 and an electro-pop collection under the Liberation name in 2020. Upon reconvening, Rat Columns featured bassist Max Schneider-Schumacher, drummer Dylan Stjepovic, and keyboardist Joey Fishman during Brooklyn tracking, with additional sessions held in Perth. Amber Gempton and Raven Mahon of the Green Child supplied vocals, Jef Brown contributed saxophone, and Mikey Young handled mixing while adding certain guitar solos. Pacific Kiss emerged in early 2021 as the band's clearest and most melodic effort to date. For the next album, West assembled Taylah McLean, Chris Grunwaldt, Richard Ingham, Cohen Bourgault, and Scott Payne—the final two having collaborated with him earlier—and chose distinctive recording sites including a 1960s-era office building and an industrial unit. Both locations encouraged a denser, more melodically diffuse approach. The resulting Babydoll tracks from 2023 proved darker and more extended, evoking the gloomier aspects of shoegaze more than prior band work.
Albums
Singles
