Rat Saw God (album)

Rat Saw God is the fifth studio album by American rock band Wednesday, released by Dead Oceans on April 7, 2023. It was preceded by the singles "Bull Believer" and "Chosen to Deserve". The album received high praise from critics, praising it as 'stunningly powerful" and "riveting". It was noted by critics for its depiction of life in the American South.

Release
On September 8, 2022, the band left Orindal Records and signed to Dead Oceans, releasing the single "Bull Believer". On January 18, 2023, the band released the single "Chosen to Deserve" and announced their fifth album, Rat Saw God, which was released on April 7, 2023. The album cover art is a 6' x 6' oil painting made by former bassist Margo Schultz.

Critical reception
Rat Saw God received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 89, based on 16 reviews.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Mark Deming concluded, "Some albums sound like the artists were trying with all their might to make an epic statement in words and music; Rat Saw God sounds like Wednesday had no such lofty aims, but their commitment to the people they write about and their instincts about crafting music to match make this a stunningly powerful work that may well turn out to be a masterpiece." In Beats Per Minute, Tim Sentz claimed that the album is an example of, "a band operating at their highest most infectious potency, and the end result is riveting." Craig Howwieson at Clash described it as, "Finding magic in the mire - Rat Saw God is an emphatic, uplifting reminder of the privilege of being alive."

Writing for DIY, Sam Thirwell stated that, "While some of the stylistic variation here can feel disjointed at times, there's plenty on offer to suggest a band on the rise, capable of rising even higher." In Exclaim, Dylan Barbabe claimed that, "Rat Saw God is wildly ambitious and easily lives up to the industry hype — Wednesday have succeeded once again in twisting nostalgia and existential dread into a braid of bruising, life-affirming rock music." At Paste, Samantha described Karly Hartzman's, "Lyrical precision is what makes the record shine, the fact that Hartzman can recall the exact video game, in this case, Mortal Kombat, that someone was playing when her nose started bleeding at a New Year's Eve party she didn't even want to be at."

Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork wrote, "Wednesday's noisy, rangy sound finds a home in the quiet, lonely corners of America. Their outstanding new album is why they're one of the best indie rock bands around." In Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan proclaimed that, "There's a Flannery O'Connor story collection worth of Southern fucked-up-ness going on here. But Wednesday are just as interested in sucking you in with a walloping guitar banger as they are in freaking you out with their snapshots from the ruralburban coming-of-age abyss. These songs are so catchy you almost don't notice the body count." Jeremy Winograd praised the album in the review for Slant; " All of the wobbling between tempos and styles might sound haphazard, but it's executed with precision. And Hartzman's snatches of Americana imagery—rain-rotted houses, parking lots, "piss-colored bright yellow Fanta"—ultimately cohere into an evocative portrait of the fringes of American life."

Personnel
All credits adapted from the record's Bandcamp page.


 * Karly Hartzman – guitar, vocals
 * MJ Lenderman – guitar, back-up vocals
 * Xandy Chelmis – lap steel
 * Margo Schultz – bass
 * Alan Miller – drums
 * Alex Farrar – production, engineering, mixing
 * Huntley Miller – mastering