SINGLE REVIEW: Citizen Rat – Truth/Lie
Kicking off with a football terrace style chant of “lie, la, lie, lie”, ‘Truth/Lie’ bursts in with Citizen Rat’s signature blend of punk-rooted rebellion and alt-rock finesse. There's a jack the lad charm and blase defiance to the swagger here, but it's balanced by something deeper beneath the surface — the bluster of self-deception and the blurred line between posturing and survival. It's knowingly performative and fully in control, yet never shallow. There's punch and attitude, but also introspection buried just underneath.
The verses cool things down a little — a laid-back groove that lets Dartanyon Hutchison’s vocals coil and flex — before the track kicks into its raucous, ragged-edged chorus. It’s a clever contrast: the calm before the fire, or maybe the lie before the truth. The riffs are high-octane, the little guitar solos that sneak in are excellent, and the infectious hooks lands with confidence. This isn't about reinventing punk, but about injecting it with colour, detail, and a little theatrical grit. It's electrifying and catchy without losing its bite.
Lyrically, there’s more going on than the bouncing energy might suggest. There’s a real push-and-pull here between self-mythology and self-sabotage — that idea of hiding behind the stories we tell ourselves, even as they start to unravel. It’s heavy stuff, but the song never buckles under it. It wears its ideas lightly but intentionally, subtly embedding the tension in the delivery rather than spelling it out. What makes ‘Truth/Lie’ hit is that it doesn't feel weighed down by its own themes — it moves fast, plays rough, and still manages to say something worth sitting with.
