Earlier today, at Rat Boy’s soundcheck, the 19-year-old was dicking about with the cameras linked up to the two huge screens flanking each side of the stage, seeing what he could get away with showing on the two big screens. Then, prior to the awards ceremony, you could spy him standing on his table, drinking Red Stripe with his bandmates. His performance of new single ‘Move’ tonight at the NME Awards 2016 with Austin, Texas, was similarly cheeky. “You know I never say the same thing twice,” he raps multiple times as he leaps about the stage.
It’s actually his relationship with his band, though, that’s most brilliantly off-kilter. At the end of each bar they switch from one fixed position to another – a semi-choreographed tour-de-force that’s weirdly endearing. But Rat Boy is Rat Boy, and his intentions are never really clear, however immersed in his performance he is. One moment his mic is the real conduit of his genius, the next he’s kicking over his drummer’s kit and bringing the performance to a close. How brilliant is that?
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