RATFINK
‘Plastic Bits’ – Lo-Fi Sunshine pop with a Sharp Edge
Melbourne DIY pop duo Ratfink! return with ‘Plastic Bits,’ the third single from their upcoming album WHEN U WERE MINE, and it’s a charming, lo-fi gem. The track pairs a slacker rock energy with a sunny, surf-pop undercurrent, delivering a deceptively upbeat sound that belies the song’s melancholic inspiration: plastic waste floating through the city’s waterways.
Liv and Raph, longtime friends and housemates, share vocal duties with effortless ease, their softly spoken delivery lending the track a dreamy, lived-in intimacy. There’s a sweetness in the harmonies that echoes the nostalgia of early-2000s indie, but Ratfink! keep things grounded in the present—singing about friendship, queerness, and environmental grief with a refreshing frankness.
“Plastic Bits” is classic three-chord rock ‘n’ roll filtered through a Gen Z lens—raw, melodic, and never too polished. There’s a spontaneity to the recording that captures the DIY ethos they’ve made their signature, as if the song were captured in one golden afternoon of haze and honesty.
If this single is any indication, WHEN U WERE MINE is set to be Ratfink!’s most fully realized project yet. Heartfelt, clever, and wonderfully loose, “Plastic Bits” sticks—like a stray bottle bobbing in the Merri.
Listen to ‘Plastic Bits’ on The Next Wave Playlist