Last year, American punk-rock band L7 announced and launched a pre-order campaign for their first full-length album since 1999, nearly 20 years from their last release. The album was due for a February 2019 release but there hadn’t been any updates of its whereabouts, that was until today.
Today, on the final day of February, L7 has announced that their highly-anticipated studio album, Scatter the Rats, is set for a May 3 release. The album will be released through rock legend Joan Jett’s label, Blackheart Records. “I’ve been friends with L7 for years and am very excited and proud to have the opportunity to release their new album on Blackheart!” said Jett in a press release.
“When we decided to make a new record, Joan was there for us as the good friend she has always been. So great to stomp into Blackheart Records with her at the helm,” said frontwoman Donita Sparks in the same press release. “We’re very excited to work with Joan and the entire Blackheart family. Just imagine the family dinners!”
In conjunction with this announcement, the band released their lead single entitled “Burn Baby” and a music video to accompany it. The music video was produced by Blue Hats Creative and directed by sister-duo Courtney and Hillary Andujar. The new clips show the band full of energy and enjoying themselves at the moment. Through the uptempo, the lyrics tell a story of letting go of old grudges for the sake of a fighting a greater, known evil.
The band will be releasing the lead single as the A-side to a seven-inch record on Record Store Day, April 13th. The B-side will be the track “Fighting The Crave.”
The entire album was recorded between two studies based in Los Angeles, one being Happy Ending Studios and the other Sunset Sound. L7 worked closely with producers Norm Block and Nick Launay to make sure each track lived up to the energy L7’s fans always remembered. The album’s title track was said to come about through a moment of spontaneity. “There were a couple of rats in the basement of the studio, where all of the amplifiers were, and at one point Norm said to us, ‘Let’s get rockin’, we can scatter the rats,” Sparks reflects.
Check out below for full tracklist and cover art for the upcoming album.
Scatter the Rats Tracklist:
- Burn Baby
- Fighting the Crave
- Proto Prototype
- Stadium West
- Murky Water Cafe
- Ouija Board Lies
- Garbage Truck
- Holding Pattern
- Uppin’ The Ice
- Cool About Easy
- Scatter The Rats
Photo taken by Mehreen Rizvi
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