Read It In Books

The more I listened to it, the more the stories kind of fit together, as a collection. I kept thinking of Geoffrey Chaucer'sThe Canterbury Tales.

Seyle: It's a catalogue of stories, yeah, but God! A Canterbury Tales album? [Laughs] Maybe we should have written the whole album in Middle English!

Mike Dressler

Rats and People getting its stories straight.

Details

Way Out Club: 314-664-7638.
Off Broadway: 314-773-3363, $10.

10 p.m. Friday, August 24. Way Out Club, 2525 South Jefferson Avenue. Also playing 9 p.m. Saturday, August 25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

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More About

• Brien Seyle
• Matt Pace
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Bureau of Sabotage
• Rob Laptad

Well, you all seem very talented, individually. Are you all multi-instrumental?

Pace: We all jump in here and there. I play a lot of different things within the band, but if the Devil challenged us to a duel, I'd pick up the guitar.

I understand you do all of the arrangements and orchestration? You take all the pieces and make them work? You're like the Timbaland of the Rats and People.

Pace: [Laughs] Ha! I am! [Thinks, pauses, gets serious] The cool thing about [the band] is that it's everyone playing honestly on an instrument. You could write the coolest shit in the world, but it's not going to sound as cool as six people playing the instrument they play, live. I don't mean to sound pretentious, but I think that's one of the charms of our band.

What band do you feel closest to in town? Who are your contemporaries?

Pace and Seyle: [simultaneously] Bad Folk.

Seyle: Actually, we're going to do a split seven-inch with Bad Folk, their song is "Saw a Circus" and ours is "I Sang to Heather Nethereye." It's about a prostitute.

Uh.."Nether... eye"? Like "down there"?

Seyle: Yeah. [Stops, looks freaked out] Holy shit! The word "nethereye" [sic] is from Chaucer! Dude, you had my number! There's no Chaucer on this album, specifically, but Chaucer definitely plays a part... apparently.