Råttanson’s “I’d Much Rather Be With The Noise” may be purchased from Kool Kat Musik.

Every once in a while, an album of new music hits so close to the sounds you’ve loved all your life that you just step back and go “wow.”

Råttanson…the D.I.Y. brainchild of Henrik Aspeborg, expanded to a power trio for this release with the addition of Alexander Petrini Månsson from The Why Oh Whys on bass and Anders Björnlund from The Turpentines / The HiJackers on drums, hails from “A lonely rathole in the forest between the water tower and the Liquor swamp (Brännvinskärret). Currently rockin’ in Segeltorp south of Stockholm.”

You can start with the title of the album for a preview of what’s in store…wordplay on the Rolling Stones classic, “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys (Than Here With You).” Therein lies the rub…with a few sonic variations to keep things interesting, this is a full-frontal assault of prime mid-60s Garage Rock in all its glory, a masterful blend of the Bo Diddley-inspired early Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, and topped off with a good measure of endearingly arrogant, swaggering, propulsive pre-punk garage rockers like Sky Saxon & The Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Hard.”

The album begins with the “Ooooh, sha-la-la-la” pop of “Small Venue Concerts,” a propulsive, harmony-laced confection, before cannonballing into the deep end of the aforementioned Seeds pool with “Can’t Let Them Win.” What follows are occasionally fuzzed-out ventures into tight, psychedelic, beat-driven rockers. “No Best Of Me” appears mid-album, and wisely sets you up for the second half my offering a mid-tempo track with a little taste of Byrds and Beatles vibe, and then we’re back at shake ‘n’ swagger with “In A Peak State With You.” There’s humor all over the place…look no further than songs like “Untamed Dame” and the impossibly groovy closer, “Bamalamalicious.” That’s the secret here…this album must have been a hell of a lot of fun to record, because it’s a hell of a lot of fun to listen to.

An artist doesn’t pick up on these vibes and influences and channel them into something new and exciting unless they loved the originals to begin with. That comes across loud and clear…Henrik & Co. understand what it felt like to hear those records, to see those black and white TV performances, and they came up with 14 wonderful songs that are a high-energy, celebratory snapshot of what it was really like. If you love Garage Rock in all its glory, welcome to one of the most accomplished efforts of 2019.