L7 Announces First Album In 20 Years, 'Scatter The Rats'

Legendary American grunge pioneers L7 have signed with Joan Jett‘s Blackheart Records for their first album in 20 years, “Scatter The Rats”, due out May 3.

“I’ve been friends with L7 for years and am very excited and proud to have the opportunity to release their new album on Blackheart!” shares Jett.

Adds L7‘s Donita Sparks: “When we decided to make a new record, Joan was there for us as the good friend she has always been. So great to stomp into Blackheart Records with her at the helm. We’re very excited to work with Joan and the entire Blackheart family. Just imagine the family dinners!”

Opening the album with a galvanizing reflection on letting go of old grudges for the sake of fighting a greater evil, the band has unleashed a blazing new video by Blue Hats Creative for lead single “Burn Baby” directed by Courtney and Hillary Andujar. The new track sees the band tight as ever, delivering their ferocious energy through a wall of rage. “Burn Baby” will be available on a special Record Store Day seven-inch single with b-side “Fighting The Crave”.

Working with producers Norm Block (JENNY LEE, PAPER CRANES, PLEXI) and Nick Launay (NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, YEAH YEAH YEAHS), L7 recorded “Scatter The Rats” at Happy Ending Studios and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, instilling each track with a kinetic vitality. The album’s title track came to life in a moment of pure spontaneity. “There were a couple of rats in the basement of the studio, where all the amplifiers were, and at one point Norm said to us, ‘Let’s get rockin’, we can scatter the rats,'” Sparks recalls.

“Scatter The Rats” embodies everything that made the band so iconic in the first place-the distortion-heavy riffs and headbanging rhythms, sludgy grooves and indelible melodies. Incendiary, cathartic, and down right fun it touches on issues of codependency, lonely hearts, internal conflict and setting aside old grievances for the greater good. Harnessing their revolutionary spirit and boundless energy, L7 achieve a direct transmission of raw feeling, often spiked with biting commentary on the chaos of the world today.

Having toured the world, delivering their take-no-prisoners spirit to massive sold-out crowds in recent years, L7 looks forward to introducing a certain elusive element back into the musical landscape. L7 will be joining “The Bash Music & Craft Beer Festival” tour across the U.S. with RANCID and more, with additional U.S. dates to be announced soon.

“I think it’s good for people to enjoy a meat-and-potatoes rock band for a change,” says Sparks. “We’re not rocket science; we’re rock and roll. And there’s value to that, and we do it pretty well. So if you want to rock, come on back to L7.”

“Scatter The Rats” track listing:

01. Burn Baby
02. Fighting The Crave
03. Proto Prototype
04. Stadium West
05. Murky Water Cafe
06. Ouija Board Lies
07. Garbage Truck
08. Holding Pattern
09. Uppin’ The Ice
10. Cool About Easy
11. Scatter The Rats