A Pizza Party With Spoiled Rat
A big linkup with the Gulf Coast "Crazy Girls" at Old Northeast Pizza, modeling some new merch and chewing on Lactaid capsules. As always, photos by Jeremy Philip.
When the Gulf Coast scene still felt like a scene, Old Northeast Pizza was a strong staple. Next door, Black Crow Coffee would have art shows at the beginning of the month, along with vintage sellers and other vendors outside in the street, and probably a live set by They Hate Change if you were lucky—or unlucky—enough to catch us in our Minimal Noise era. We’d step outside the coffee shop and pop in next door for a slice or two, quickly being reminded for the 100th time that the place is cash only and you’re gonna have to use their ATM (that shows your balance to the whole world at the end of the transaction???) to pull a 20 out of the last $28 in your account, for a $3.50 fee. We’d complain amongst ourselves, but not for long; the slice is the closest thing you’ll find around here to a “proper” “New York” slice, if that means anything to you. Coupled with the atmosphere of the scene taking over the block for the night, the slight inconvenience was always worth it.
Post-lockdown, we rarely make it to Old Northeast for any reason anymore, though a few friends still reside dead-close to the block. The scene that used to be a rotating cast of around 500 people is down to maybe 150, who all come outside less and less, with less and less to congregate around, especially on this old block. Linking up over here for a photoshoot with Spoiled Rat (a band coincidentally featuring a couple former and current Black Crow employees) felt nice; obviously nostalgic but more than that, a feeling of “hmm, why did we all stop coming over here?”. In reality, only a couple of things have actually changed on the block. For one, Black Crow, once an essential hub for a thriving scene, doesn’t really have shows anymore and closes promptly at 5PM instead of their original 9PM. Second, Old Northeast Pizza takes cards now.
Spoiled Rat’s debut EP is out today, exploding with post-pandemic Florida energy; the rising of the Phoenix from the ashes of FLDIY. The EP also features a remix by They Hate Change, because we love this band and love the record. We took their thrashy, wild girl anthem and took it to Change World, so if you’re into that sort of thing, put some headphones on and put the volume all the way up. If you own a nice chair and pair of speakers, send a photo of you doing the Maxell thing to it.
On the name:
V: Question for y'all, because people are going to ask too, and I don't know if y'all have answered the question yet. Or I don't know if I've ever heard the answer. Where does the name come from?
Summer: So before we had a name, every practice we would throw out a name.
V: So every single practice, you have another name like, "Yeah, what about this?"
Summer: Yeah. And then we booked a show. And we're like, “Oh my God, we need a name!” Someone said Spoiled Rat. I don't know who.
Soleil: There's like, a little photo of a rat, like, in a tiara. And over it, it says like, Spoiled or something, so I think we just, like, kind of played off that. (Laughs) But we had a couple in the running.
V: Yo, can I hear some of the ones that were in the running?
Soleil: Mosquito and The Bites.
V: Mosquito and the Bites. Okay.
Summer: Boy Legs, right? The Flirts.
V: The Flirts? Come on!
Summer: The Pills.
Soleil: Oh yeah, Friends Forever.
Summer: There's something with a heart, or guts... Girl Guts!
V: Girl Guts? Y'all are really good at band names.
Summer: Too good.
V: Would've thought you had a generator, that's crazy.
All: (laughs)
Spoiled Rat is a part of a new generation of the Gulf Coast Sound, one led by riot grrrl ideals and a strong desire to be fully “active” after the initial wave of the pandemic shuttered most of the Gulf’s previous sources of activity. The 4 members Cassidy, Megan, Soleil, and Summer—who all do a bit of everything—make up about half of the collective We’re Sweet Girls, booking shows, making zines and putting out mixtapes, with the aforementioned activity ethos informing each aspect.
The lyrics from fan favorite track “Crazy Girl Moment” are both straightforward and ambiguous as hell, but in my own head paint a vivid picture of a lifestyle I first became aware of in Alternative School, one most exemplified by girls that really needed to get stoned in a public-but-inappropriate place, and couldn’t be bothered to figure out how to do it discreetly. It’s pretty much exactly what people outside of Florida think Floridians are like, and they’re at least half right:
Tight pants, lose chance, wanna dance!
Bro stains, growing pains, changing lanes!
Rat’s nest, Dad’s Best, failed test!
Southern charm, skinny arms, false alarm!
Ill-fitting, teeth grinning, hash-slinging!
Holy hell, school bell, kiss & tell!
Smoking pot, smoking pot, smoking pot!
Taco Bell, Taco Bell, Taco Bell!
Long live bug bites, crazy girls, and fist fights!
It’s music by and for DIY heads that are dying to fucking hang out. Not so eager that they were throwing super-spreader parties at the height of COVID, but rather ready to expend 3 years of pent up energy all at once at whatever smoked out dive remains after the dust has settled.
On Pizza:
A: I don’t mind cheese pizza, but I’m just like, is it a waste? Cause….it’s Pizza.
V: (laughs) Okay, I’m following you…
A: It’s like Black Coffee…Just put something in it!
V: Okay, Cheese Pizza = Black Coffee?
A: Yeah (laughs). So what what ingredients are on the Spoiled Rat pizza?
J: Oh, yeah, like if you guys had a custom pizza.
Rats (in unison): No Cheese!
V: Wait, what? Oh shit that’s right… (ed note: Soleil is Vegan) fuck!
A: Wow, whoever ordered the pizza really blew it.
All: (laughs)
Soleil: Cassidy says we are the worst people to share pizza with, right?
Summer: Yeah cause I also can't eat cheese, but I'll do it for yall. (Laughs)
A: Wait, you lactose intolerant too?
Summer: ….yeah (laughs)
Xandra: Who among us?
V: Welcome to the club, ya know.
Summer: I ate cheese while I was working; it was like Employee Appreciation week, so they had this buffet like every day, and I had an EMERGENCY.
All: (laughs)
Summer: I felt so bad! I was working with someone that was 69 years old, and I was letting out the sneakiest little toots the whole time. I was like, well, she won’t care, she’ll probably think it’s herself.
A: (laughs) I would’ve went right by her every time!
J: You were gaslighting her. (Laughs)
A: So no cheese is on the SpRat Pizza.
Summer: No cheese, Banana Peppers. Oh what's the Cappy’s order??
Soleil: Cappy’s? Like whatever vegetable they have normally.
J: There's also, like, people get celebrities sandwiches. I’m thinking of Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. What would the Sandwich be?
Summer: Peanut butter Jelly would be the Spoiled Rat sandwich.
V: Break it down, because I know you already have it figured out!
J: Peanut Butter: Fair trade? Organic?
Cassidy: Soleil made it for everyone once.
Soleil: In one of those, like, plastic lunch containers. You know. Cheapest Whole Wheat on the market.
Megan: The one with the Owl on it.
Andre: Honey Wheat? They just had a BOGO, hamburger buns and hot dogs…Did you cut the crust?
Soleil: No…
A: Ughhhh.
All: (Laughs)
On Chewing Gum:
Rats: (chewing gum)
V: What kind of gum is that?
Soleil: Fossilized gumball…it’s from the Gumball Machine inside.
V: Woah. Does everyone have a favorite gum?
Summer: 5 Gum.
Vonne: Okay, real modern.
Soliel: Whatever one Valentina has in her purse.
V: Word, 5 Gum as well.
Summer: I used to love the Mint Chocolate Chip Extra.
Soleil: I was just going to say that. Was there other flavors? I think there was like Key Lime or something…
Megan: Yes! That one was good!
Vonne: Y’all are some real gum chewers, I’ve never heard of these flavors before.
Soliel: It's just like candy. (Laughs) I remember finishing packs in, like a day.
V: Cass, what's your favorite?
Cassidy: Guilty pleasure, is that blue “Winter” something with like mountains on it.
Vonne: Winterfresh?
Cassidy: Yeah real classic, but I think they don’t sell it anymore.
V: It’s at like, the kiosk at the front of the grocery when you're checking out, next to Us and People, the tabloids and shit.
Cassidy: Whoever just said the cubes, I do love those too.
Soleil: Jeremey holds those, in his car at all times.
J: (laughs) Those are my go to!
Megan: I was never into Juicy Fruit.
V: It definitely loses flavor real quick, but I feel like that's that short burst is really nice. There's some drug comparison, probably, but I don't, you know, dabble too crazy. But I feel like there's some parallel.
Summer: Cocaine.
V: There you go, yeah. “The Cocaine of Gums”.
All: (laughs)
Summer: I've never done cocaine, but I've heard that's what it's like. Don’t do drugs! Unless it's THC.
As for the gear SpRat is wearing, the story is the same as all of our merch produced to date: We make something exclusively for a tour, then everyone online loves it and asks to buy it too! So this one is for y'all who enjoy nice things. Designed in collaboration with Corporate Guest (as usual), and printed on the best blanks we—and maybe you—have ever felt, and shipping right now.