Hailing from Tacoma, Washington is The Rat Utopia Experiment (aka T.R.U.E.), who describe themselves as “a band that can only exist because kids who grew up listening to their parents’ Nirvana and MCR CDs and watching Fight Club, suddenly experienced the world around them falling apart in their most formative years. Informed by grunge, emo, and nu-metal and fueled by late-stage capitalist cynicism, this is music for disaffected youth searching for a greater purpose.” After listening to their hard-charging music that also incorporates generous servings of punk sensibility, I would say that sounds about right.

Formed in 2022, the raucous five-piece consists of 16-year-old frontwoman Phia Lane ( lead vocals, guitar), Evan Fry (drums, vocals), Maddox Mullins (lead guitar), Francis Green (bass), and Casey Waldbauer (rhythm guitar, vocals). All but Evan, who recently turned 21, are still in their late teens. I’m really impressed by their strong musicianship as well as Phia’s intelligent, brutally honest songwriting that reveals a wisdom and maturity beyong her young age. Their musical influences include such artists and bands as Nirvana, Adolescents, The Gits, David Bowie, The Runaways, Korn and Stone Temple Pilots.

After dropping a string of nine hard-hitting singles throughout 2023 and 2024, they bundled eight of them into their debut album No Hit Wonders., released this past March. Now, after a couple of changes in lineup, they’re back with their first single of 2025 “Creature Comfort“, which dropped May 29th. The song is a blistering takedown of corrupt politicians who screw over their constituents and game the system with the help of unscrupulous lawyers and fellow politicians.

The song opens with a quote from President Nixon’s farewell speech to his Cabinet and staff members, in which he quoted a paragraph he’d read in a book about former President Theodore Roosevelt:

And this quote is about a young man
He was a young lawyer in New York
He’d married a beautiful girl
And they had a lovely daughter
And then suddenly she died
And this is what he wrote
This was in his diary

As Nixon’s words progress, the band layers a building reverb that soon explodes into a maelstrom of furious pounding drumbeats and screeching guitar riffs as they repeatedly yell “Hey, hey!“. Then it’s off to the races with an unrelenting adrenaline-raising onslaught of riotous gnarly riffs, deep, chugging bass and thunderous stomping drums, fueled by healthy doses of punk-infused reverb and feedback. Phia’s commanding vocals, which remind me at times of Willow Smith, match the ferocity of the music note for note, resulting in an electrifying spine-tingling performance as she practically spits the scathing lyrics:

It was a hot young day in September
When the baby boy was born
Lost his mommy in a car crash
And his daddy’s gone to war
He knew that he was destined to do something that was more
But he was pushing drugs
He was rotten to the core

Creature Comfort
No condolences
Gotta show up to whoever’s poll it is

Hey, hey

It was a cold old day in June
When the rich man came to town
He said, “Listen, boy, I ain’t here to fuck around”
The boy said, “Gosh, I ain’t got my law degree”
And the rich man just replied,
“That shit don’t matter to me”

Creature Comfort
No Condolences
Gotta show up to whoever’s poll it is
Creature Comfort
They don’t care
About your health or your wealth
So grow a fucking pair

Hey, hey

But it all came crashing down
When the rich man got cocky
The boy ain’t gone to law school
And he gets real talky
Their secret is out,
And the rich man is screwed
He tried to cheat the system,
But got spat on and chewed

Creature Comfort
No condolences
Gotta show up to whoever’s poll it is

Hey, hey

But what of the boy?
Well, the rich man don’t care
He leaves him to fend for himself
Don’t even spare a prayer
He’s pushing,
And drinking,
Man, what a swine
He takes his bloodline down with him
While the rich man stays blind

Creature Comfort
No Condolences
Gotta show up to whoever’s poll it is
Creature Comfort
They don’t care
About your health or your wealth
So grow a fucking pair

Hey, hey

The rich man’s in trouble
And he stands before the court
The senator, however,
Likes the man’s earnings report
He fucks his districts and his mistress
The justice system, too
He makes one call, and the rich man’s free
Almost like brand-new

Creature Comfort
No Condolences
Gotta show up to whoever’s poll it is
Creature Comfort
They don’t care
About your health or wealth
So grow a fucking pair

The song ends with the famous excerpt from Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech made during a press conference in November 1973, when he was facing allegations of corruption related to the Watergate scandal:

I have never obstructed justice
I think, too, that I can say
That in my years of public life
That I welcome this kind of examination
Because people have got to know
Whether or not their president is a crook
Well, I am not a crook
I’ve earned everything I’ve got

“Creature Comfort” is a brilliant, hard-hitting song by this astonishingly talented young group, and I can’t wait to hear what T.R.U.E. comes up with next.

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Find their music on Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube