THERE was a fleeting moment in the winter of 1991 when Ratcat were the hottest band in Australia.
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The Sydney indie three-piece's 1990 EP Tingles, propelled along by the buzz saw Ramones-esque track That Ain't Bad, upset the apple cart of radio-friendly pop to top the ARIA charts for a fortnight and finish 1991 as the second highest single of the year.
Wedged on either side of That Ain't Bad were Bryan Adams' soppy power ballad (Everything I Do) I Do It For You and the Grease Mega-Mix.
Ratcat's second album Blind Love - featuring the tracks Don't Go Now and Baby Baby - then enjoyed a three-week stint on top of the ARIA charts.
Charismatic frontman and songwriter Simon Day, dressed in his trademark skinny black jeans and striped t-shirts instantly became Australia's new rock'n'roll heartthrob.
Unfortunately subsequent albums Inside Out (1992) and Easy Rider (1997) couldn't match the chart success of Blind Love, but nobody could deny Ratcat paved the way for alternative rock bands like Silverchair, Powderfinger, You Am I and Spiderbait to breakthrough in the mid to late '90s.
Some of Powderfinger and You Am I's earliest shows were supporting Ratcat.
"All I can say in my mind is it opened the concept to major record companies that they could invest in local bands and make money," Day reflected this week.
Day isn't one to waste time reminiscing past glories. He's continued to pen new material, including co-writes with Jebediah and Bob Evans' Kevin Mitchell. Day estimates there's "two to three albums" worth of material awaiting the right opportunity to be released.
This Sunday Day will afford himself a rare opportunity to delve into the past when Ratcat play their first gig of the year at Newcastle's Scene & Heard festival at Wickham Park.
With the line-up also featuring Grinspoon, Spiderbait, Cog and Tumbleweed, it's a clear celebration of Australia's iconic '90s alternative rock scene.
For Ratcat - which also includes drummer Reuben Alexander (William Crighton) and bassist Nic Dalton (The Lemonheads) - Scene & Heard will be a belated 30th anniversary celebration of Blind Love.
Day admits matching the expectations of nostalgic fans can be difficult.
"I'm a creative, as a songwriter and visual creative, so for me it's nice to have an accolade but tomorrow's job is just as important as whatever happened in the past," he said.
"That mindset of playing 30-year anniversaries or festivals 30 years later, I'm playing to people's memories. That's a lot of pressure for me.
"When we were young we didn't give a shit. We just jammed it out and if we made mistakes we didn't care.
"Given that the music people are hearing is the recordings, rather than seeing us live in that instance, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure we play it as close as possible to how it was.
"It's not that hard, but you can't be a punk kid and make mistakes."
Despite their seemingly quick success in 1991, Ratcat were anything but an overnight sensation.
Day first formed the band in 1985 and by 1987 they'd signed with Sydney independent label Waterfront Records, which was co-owned by Steven Stavrakis and Chris Dunn. These days Dunn lives in Newcastle and was the former owner of The Edwards record shop.
Waterfront Records released Ratcat's self-titled EP in 1987 and their debut album This Nightmare in 1989, but for Tingles they joined INXS manager Chris Murphy's rooArt label.
"Things like Waterfront, Phantom [Records] were shop fronts mostly, that did label stuff because there was a need for it," Day said. "But they were importing records from England and America that you couldn't just buy from Sanity or the chain stores.
"For Ratcat, being on Waterfront was great because that was where we cut our cloth and made our style, but to get commercial radio to play you when you're on Waterfront [was difficult], they're like, 'well you can't buy you in the suburbs so it doesn't really suit our audience, there's no point'.
"So for us going from Waterfront to something like the rooArt label, which had major distribution, allowed people making the decisions to put our records in stores in every suburb."
Despite leaving Waterfront, Ratcat maintained their indie connections. Waterfront was a sister label to America's Sub Pop, who famously released Nirvana's 1989 debut Bleach.
In 1991 Ratcat shared the stage at the UK's iconic Reading Festival with Nirvana just prior to Nevermind going nuclear.
"We played at Reading Festival when Kurt Cobain threw himself into the drum kit and dislocated his shoulder," Day said. "I saw that happen. I watched that with my eyes.
"I thought, 'wow, what's he doing? That must have hurt.' We got to do some really great things."
Ratcat play Scene & Heard festival at Wickham Park on Sunday.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
