Before Dead Moon, before Pierced Arrows and The Range Rats, there were The Rats. Their self-titled 1980 debut was the first record Fred and Toody Cole made together, and already contains plenty of the raw, stubborn rock'n'roll spirit that would define their music for decades to come.

Recorded in Portland with Fred on guitar and vocals, Toody on bass and vocals and Rod Hibbert on drums, "The Rats" is primitive punk at its best: rough guitars, urgent rhythms and great songs buried beneath a gloriously lo-fi racket. There's garage rock and early punk in there, but even at this stage the Coles never sounded quite like anyone else.

Originally released on Fred and Toody's own Whizeagle label, the album is one of the foundation stones of the Portland punk underground and the starting point of one of American underground rock'n'roll's great partnerships. Remastered, but thankfully not cleaned up too much - this one is supposed to sound dirty.