Rat Fancy are an indie-pop trio from Los Angeles, a place, in their words, “where despite all that sunshine you might choke on the smog and ambition all around you”. It’s that dichotomy that exists as the centre of Rat Fancy’s music; they’re at once sun-drenched bubble-gum pop and cutting punk-angst, their lyrics sweet and optimistic, but with an unquestionably sour feeling that life isn’t as fair as it should be. Even the title track to their upcoming EP, Suck A Lemon, is produced in both a slow and a fast version, the video for which we’re premiering here today.

Remarkably, Suck A Lemon was the first song that Rat Fancy ever wrote. The band describe the song as, “an anti-drama anthem”, an invitation to anyone bringing negative vibes to take them out the door, and you guessed it, go suck a lemon. It’s a track about that feeling that life is too short to waste on bitterness.

Musically, it’s a track of two sections. The opening is gorgeously lo-fi; a lone, echo-drenched guitar, is latterly joined by a slow-moving keyboard line, as singer Diana Barraza, formerly of Sweater Girls, sings, “girl you got your problems, but I have some too, and I’d rather suck a lemon than talk to you”. The track then breaks down, before coming back as an energetic bratty-punk stormer; Diana’s indie-pop tinged vocals accompanied by ferocious drum beats and richly melodic, lo-fi electronics. The band say they dream of a world where, “kids are free to be as weird as they want to be”, the kids could do a lot worse than grow up to sound just as good, and inspiring, as Rat Fancy.

Suck A Lemon is out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. Click HERE for more information on Rat Fancy.