from the LP Out of the Cellar, Atlantic Records, 1984Most cultures use clothing symbolically, as a way of telling others about the things one finds important without having to talk, thus easing our social navigation substantially, and perhaps no where is that fact more readily practiced than in the United States; specifically, back in the day, the girls who wore rock tees were generally looser (see: not prude), but there was even a hierarchy within their ranks: the girls with Poison or Bon Jovi shirts were often the teases, those donning Guns ‘N’ Roses or Mötley Crüe shirts were likely to be pretty fun, but the absolute guarantee of hitting a home run came from those daring, proud girls in the RATT tees---these were the ladies your mother had warned you about, wild horses who embraced the inner slut and weren’t afraid to show it. Having been something of a slut myself, I gotta give those girls big props, because it’s better to embrace what you are than to spent a lot of effort pretending to be something else. This debut long-player from Ratt is an absolute must-have for any self respecting fan of ‘80s heavy metal, gritty and melodic at the same time, a balance this deep cut manages with adept precision.
