There have been few music phenomenons like Charli XCX’s Brat. Aside from the record itself, ‘brat’ as an entity has become an entirely different beast.
‘Brat’ has grown into something that is, essentially an all-encompassing viral meme. Everyone under the sun (me included) is having their own version of a ‘brat summer’, and Charli’s remixes have become legendary with their guest spots and massive viral impact. I was acutely aware of Charli XCX before brat, but I can’t say I was well versed in her back catalogue: earlier this year the reverential Mary Anne Hobbes spun ‘Von Dutch’ on her 6 Music show, which kicked off my personal brat summer in earnest.
What is a brat summer? Well, who knows. There are a few schools of thought here, and based on Charli’s own vibes, a brat summer could be railing lines at a Boilerroom DJ set, picking out undies with Billie Eilish, or taking the internet by storm. Generally, my own brand of the brat summer has consisted of drinking real ale, smoking cheap cigs, pointing out anything fluorescent green and shouting “brat!”, to the chagrin of my friends, family and partner. As far as I’m concerned, brat summer is about ‘doing you’. Making bold, confident choices and owning them: whether that’s wearing something you’re unsure on, going to a gig or a social event you’re anxious about, or just generally putting yourself in a situation that requires confidence and fortitude. If you’re putting yourself out there, making leaps socially or with work, creating and showing off your art, singing in public, or bumping keys in the club, you’re having a brat summer. Well done you.
Brat has grown into something bigger than an album though, and as mentioned, brat has taken the world by storm. It’s grown out of a simple album drop into massive memes, videos and even presidential candidates co-opting the slogan: the question I have is, was this organic?
The cynic in me says no. As a grizzled music blogger with upwards of four (4) years of experience in unpaid, unnoticed, generally ignored music journalism I’ve become something of a cynic. Through (admittedly minimal) interactions with the industry machine, I’ve learned that spontaneity is effectively dead: something like the brat summer phenomenon does not happen organically, it needs a series of white dudes on a Zoom call to ‘workshop’ it, and ‘blue-sky’ the concept, before it gets ‘focus grouped’ and finally approved by a different, more senior white dude. Then the various social media and marketing types get briefed on it, and through numerous discussions on Slack, a ‘strategy’ is built before it’s ‘rolled out’ via a series of explicitly precise social media posts, TikTok sounds and ‘influencer’ content.
Perhaps I am a cynical bastard (not very brat summer of me), and this whole dynamic was borne out of a fantastic record and a wonderfully simple, easily memeable album cover. Maybe.
The other piece of the viral brat puzzle that rubs me up the wrong way is the Kamala Harris stuff. The Democratic presidential nom has co-opted brat and brat summer for her own ends: it is huuuuugely dangerous territory when a politician takes music and runs with it. it has shades of Gordon Brown saying his favourite band were Arctic Monkeys, or David Cameron confessing to enjoying The Smiths. Jonny Marr famously forbade the Tory PM from liking their music, a move that Charli perhaps should have used. Obviously, clearly, Trump is worse, but Biden and Harris’ administration has been not only complicit but instrumental in the butchery of Gaza and the continued oppression of the Palestinian people. For me, that’s not very brat of her.
As this is a music blog, I suppose I should talk about the music. I wasn’t hugely impressed with Brat when it dropped: barring ‘Von Dutch’, I found a lot of the album a little samey, and not massively interesting. It grew on me though, in a huge way and cuts like ‘Apple’, ‘365’ and ‘Everything is Romantic’ wormed their way into regular rotation. The unabashed brashness of the thing is brilliant, and the way Charli and co use synths to amplify the beats and vocoder vocals is really quite exceptional.
The remixes have been superb - whilst I prefer the original ‘Von Dutch’ and ‘360’, ‘Guess’ and ‘Girl So Confused’ have elevated some of the weaker cuts on Brat to uncharted territory. Lorde’s contributions to ‘Girl…’ are utterly euphoric: I’m a fully paid up Lorde fan, but what she adds to that cut is monumental. Her heartfelt confessions of insecurity and anxiety are so real, as well as the way the pair depict the trials and tribulations of female friendship makes the remix one of the songs of the year for sure.
‘Guess’ hits the same heights, this time with global mega superstar Billie Eilish featuring: her droll, low-key vocal harks back to her delivery on When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. Even after Billie’s verse, this absolutely gigantic synth part comes crashing out of nowhere: it’s fantastic, and the extra synth wobbles are pulled straight from late Bloc Party (specifically they remind me of ‘Flirting Again’), and lyrical delivery that evokes Daft Punk’s ‘Technologic’. I always rate a good tune on one specific area of criteria: the best songs you play loud, to the point where the rearview mirror becomes a blur thanks to bass vibrations. ‘Guess’ is a serious winner in this category.
Outside of Charli, I’m putting the finishing touches on my own personal brat-summer. I’ve just got back from a massive weekend at Leeds fest, and the summer concludes with Manchester Psych Fest. Of course, Oasis tickets are on sale this week - even Liam and Noel worked it out on the remix.
I’ve put together a little playlist of some of my favourite rearview mirror shakers here, as well as some Leeds fest highlights.