The Stuff

Hailing from Stockholm, The Stuff comprises four unusually large rocking rats who first crossed paths inside one of Europe's premier underground drainage systems. There they forged their partnership while absorbing albums by the Stooges and the Kinks alongside pungent cheese. With tails secured inside their form-fitting blue denim, the quartet ranged across most of the E.U. in search of stages and a fitting space to lay down their debut EP, Say Hello to Mary, which appeared in 2003. An offensive aroma eventually drew the rodents to Ill Wind Records, whose name proved apt when the label supplied both ripe stilton and a recording contract. The three-song single Pl-Pl-Please followed in late 2004 and paved the way for the band's first album, Pick It Up, Pig Boy, issued in 2005. Identified publicly only as "rat in the leather jacket," "rat in the orange T-shirt," "rat in the cap," and "rat in the red jacket," the masked members continue to shield their identities behind rodent-inspired disguises. Should they turn out to be human after all, further details will be provided.