Ravetank is the recording project of Bath-resident Nathan Howard, a young man with a decidedly DIY aesthetic and fondness for American lo-fi legends such as Guided by Voices and Beat Happening. His latest EP Wasting Your Life From 9 – 5 is being released on cassette via the folks at Havana Tapes.
The A-side opens with ‘Don’t Be a Slave to That Grind’, chugging guitar rattling around behind Howard’s lyrics declaring a world-view that we can really get behind here at WTD, “Waste your life with 9-5, live your life in 9-5s, don’t be a slave to that grind”. ‘Vila 838’ is more indie pop, all fuzzed-out strum and perky percussion, but with the same lyrical sentiment (“some people like to work for the man, but I don’t have a plan, but I’d rather not subscribe to the bullshit, cos it makes me so sick”), and ‘White Heron Dance’is short and sweet, with a swaying carefree nature.
The B-side has just two tracks, ‘Ted the Radical Westy’ is a slice of twee lo-fi pop about a “party dude” from Aberdeen, while ‘American Ninja Delivery Girl’ is honeyed and jangly, a love story about an American delivery girl who don’t care what they do or what they say and a Canadian slacker who’s in a band and not very good at it. Howard has also made some endearingly lo-fi videos for some of the tracks. Check out the video for ‘Ted the Radical Westy’!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSQ10svT6qI&feature=youtu.be
It’s a great little release, all the more charming for the fact it was recorded by one man the Tascam four track tape machine he bought for £50 at a Cash Converters in Salisbury.
You can get Wasting Your Life From 9 – 5 on cassette or name-your-price download via Havana Tapes.
