Satan’s Rats Team Up With Puss Johnson To Become Satan’s Cats

Satan’s Cats, a collaboration between UK punk band Satan’s Rats and singer Puss Johnson (Pussycat And The Dirty Johnsons), have announced plans for a self-titled debut EP that will be released on CD and download on November 4th via Salamander Records. The Satan’s Cats EP will feature five songs, including four reworkings of vintage Satan’s Rats tracks and a cover of Thin Lizzy‘s The Rocker. Satan’s Cats includes three members of Satan’s Rats: founding member & guitarist Steve Eagles, drummer Olly Harrison and bassist Dave Sparrow. When Satan’s Rats dissolved in 1978, the trio invited Wendy Wu to sing and rebranded themselves as The Photos. Following much media attention and a record company bidding war, they signed with Epic Records and their debut album reached #4 in the UK charts.

“During Covid lockdown, Olly suggested that we should reform the Rats with Puss. When I reacquainted myself with the songs, I was instantly excited and wrote Olly back to say, ‘Yeah, let’s go!’ The band had one rehearsal with Puss to just sort out which key each song would be in. Puss has a strong presence, and she sounds great on these tracks. We tried out seven or eight old Satan’s Rats songs and the four that sounded the most immediate made the cut for recording, As for the cover of Thin Lizzy’s ‘The Rocker,’ Olly saw something in it that would suit Puss’ voice and attitude. Satan’s Cats is all about having some fun. If there’s enough interest in the EP, I could see it leading to an album.”

The EP features four classics from the Rats’ repertoire, You Make Me Sick, Facade, Sex Object and Year Of The Rats, which were chosen mainly by Johnson and Harrison. It was discussed whether Johnson liked the song, whether it was suitable for her kind of delivery, and whether the lyrics needed to be updated. During their brief existence, Satan’s Rats played many of the famous punk clubs of the day, including The Roxy and Barbarella’s, and shared bills with Slaughter And The Dogs, XTC, The Killjoys, Suburban Studs, The Drones to name but a few. Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of their career happened December 21st 1977, when they opened for The Sex Pistols at Club Lafayette in Wolverhampton, UK.