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James Raftery live and on recordings performs: Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, keyboard and sounds with: Live: Matt Raftery, drums and Andy K., electric bass. On "Dizzy on Daddy" & "Energy Garage" with Jeral Benjamin, viola. On "Horizon Drops" & "Energy Garage" with Christy Davis, drums & John Werner, electric guitar (tracks 7 & 9)

"Energy Garage" BUY NOW

"Horizon Drops" BUY NOW

"Weekend" EP BUY NOW

"Dizzy on Daddy" BUY NOW

Rat Logo T-Shirt BUY NOW

Dizzy on Daddy Poster 18 X 24 Full Color BUY NOW

The Ectophiles' Guide
04 May 2008
Rat Wakes Red returns with a folksy and intriguing EP, only four songs but they really hit the mark. "Energy Garage" itself is soft folk with a superlative vocal. "You" is dreamy and reminds me of Red House Painters, in its slow hush. The EP is over way too soon and whets the appetite for a new album.

The Big Takeover, Issue 61, Winter 07/08, Jack Rabid With each release, New Yorker James Raftery impresses more. Although one thinks of him as a modern folkie in the Kristin Hersh "Your Ghost" vein, it's electric guitars that make this quiet sound on the oddly named "Energy Garage". (It's actually more like a nice afternoon nap.) Bouts of guitar texture seem to tumble down from nowhere to add a mournful quality to Raftery's Elliot Smith-like voice. And when producer Jeral Benjamin brings back her violas (regrettably missing from the sophomore Horizon Drops) on "You", it's like your well-thumbed This Mortal Coil records, with light drums and bass to add to a light breeze. Lovely!... Time for LP 3!

Sentimentalist, Issue 26, Fall 2007, Cleo
Rat Wakes Red's approach is a fragile balance between cocksure and vulnerable, drawing you in immediately. Songwriter James Raftery has a knack for switching between intensity ("Spider") and sublime introspection ("Lovely Invalid") with the greatest of ease, making for a dynamic listen.

The Big Takeover, Issue 59, Winter 2007, Jack Rabid
...an intriguing, totally new direction...like the particular later-'80s 4AD period when Ivo Watts Russell was fixated on Pixies and Throwing Muses, with loopy harsh guitar, beat, and cooed vocal...with a bit of what you liked about Weezer's radio hits...

The Big Takeover, Issue 58, Spring 2006, Mark Suppanz
...Jeral Benjamin returns to provide typically excellent, warm production...Raftery's multi-tracked, Elliot Smith-like voice still beguiles, ensuring plenty of lovely moments... Further, Davis's dynamic stick-work not only adds more of a post-punk edginess and tension, but also allows Raftery to infuse each song with varied and shifting loud/soft moods...

The Big Takeover, Issue 48, Jack Rabid
Acoustic folk guitar and viola, with a whispery, troubled voice? Yes please! Rat Wakes Red is a strange moniker for such an exquisite murmur...

Grave Concerns E-zine, May 5, 2006, Joshua Heinrich
Based in well-crafted pop sensibilities, Rat Wakes Red's Horizon Drops is, without a doubt, a significant stylistic departure from the band's previous output, but it's also one that works...

Dizzy on Daddy, is something of a foray into the duality of light and dark, moody melancholia juxtaposed against airier, more upbeat offerings...is permeated by strong songwriting by central member James Raftery and excellent production from violist Jeral Benjamin...

Alarm Magazine, Eddie Fournier
Raftery is quite the storyteller, which is part of what breaks your heart, because it often sounds as though he is speaking directly to you...

Boston's Weekly Dig, Graham Wilson
Rat Wakes Red blends neo-gothic-folk with modern 21st century recording to produce a sublime sonic sedation of melodies...

Reno Gazette-Journal, Mark Earnest
Fans of the darker side of mellowness (or classic 4AD records) should seek it out...

hEARd Magazine, Australia
A superbly crafted release...Every song without exception sees this most interesting of bands make their mark on your mind...about as good as it gets...

Splendid Ezine, Deirdre Devers
Rat Wakes Red...pay(s) homage to the likes of Kristin Hersh, Kate Bush and Leonard Cohen, who also make pain and loss the cornerstone of their musical melodramas...

NY Rock, Bill Ribas
...the purity and simplicity of the instrumentation, the sense of sadness culled from the lyrics, and the pop folk feel together all sounds so refreshing it's hard to get the disc out of the player...