Mouse Rat deliver wholesome and heartfelt anthems on The Awesome Album

Indeed, it’s true that Mouse Rat may well have been doing the rounds for a number of years already. With a number of notable hometown shows under their belt, few outside of Pawnee will have been lucky enough to hear more than the handful of bootleg songs that have made their way onto the internet.

Until now.

14 tracks of heartfelt American indie, fans of bands such as Goo Goo Dolls or The Dave Matthews band will find a lot to love here. From the stadium-sized anthemia of fan-favourite "The Pit", to the button-bright and breezy "The Way You Look Tonight", it’s a release that spans the entirety of Mouse Rat’s career, providing both established singles and deeper cuts to please even the most ardent of fans.

The brain-child of Pawnee shoeshine Andy Dwyer, the frontman is no stranger to the stage, having performed in now defunct (but fondly remembered across Indiana) bands such as The Andy Andy Andies, Everything Rhymes with Orange, Fiveskin, God Hates Figs, Ninjadick, Nothing Rhymes with Blorange, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, and Threeskin to name just a couple, but Mouse Rat is the first to find international acclaim.

This is something helped in part by fellow Pawneeian Scott Tanner, frontman of the aforementioned Land Ho! and who, in a “symbolic passing of the torch”, contributed two tracks to The Awesome Album. Though tacked on to the end as bonus tracks, the lilting closing number features an appearance by another Pawnee legend in the form of Duke Silver.

Heartfelt and anthemic, warm-hearted and optimistic, The Awesome Album is 14 tracks of feel good indie rock that never feels too tethered to its genre. At times it might come across as more sugary than an explosion at the Sweetums factory, but then with tracks like the tender "Sex Hair" or the rousing "5000 Candles In the Wind", it’s impossible not to spend any time with this record and not feel completely uplifted.