Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders releasing Sons of the City Ditch in October

Listen to "Livin' In A World Of Hurt" off Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders' new album Sons of the City Ditch.  

Here's the scoop...

A resurgent Dog Meat Records is thrilled and proud to release a new album by a resurgent rock'n'roller and an old friend, Pat Todd and his band The Rankoutsiders. Entitled "Sons of The City Ditch," the seventh album by LA's finest rock'n'roll band comes some 36 years after the label's first dalliances with Pat, back when he fronted the legendary Lazy Cowgirls. The new recording (out October 13th) shows that Pat has lost none of his spark, that his voice and songwriting have only gotten stronger, and that he's got another killer band behind him, one that mixes classic '70s punk rock roots with country, blues and rock'n'roll in a manner that sits somewhere between Exile on Main Street and LAMF.

A prolific songwriter with an eye on life in the margins – whether they be in small towns or the big sprawling city he has called home for 40 years – Pat Todd routinely hits the mark where youth and the advancement of age find common ground in alienation and wilfulness. Pat knows that rock’n’roll is not necessarily a young person's game, and nor is it a glamourous one; the name he gave this band accurately points to where he and they are coming from. New originals like 'All We Have To Show', the horn-riffing rocker 'Living In A World of Hurt' and the raucous country-folk punker 'Goodbye to the World' are up there with anything he has ever written, and the Rankoutsiders play them even better than ever. Indeed, a couple of choice covers - a version of 'Hi Ho Silver Lining', sung by guitarist Nick Alexander and cut before Jeff Beck's unfortunate passing, and a version of David Johansen's old heartbreaker 'Donna' cut before word of Martin Scorsese’s Johansen documentary got out - shows by comparison to the original versions just how well these guys can crank it out. 

For over 20 years – from the early 80s to the early 2000s – Pat Todd fronted the undisputed Los Angeles punk 'n' roll kings: The Lazy Cowgirls. Having landed in LA from the mid-west-meets-the south outpost of Vincennes, Indiana early in the decade, the Cowgirls sparked a new LA punk scene; their live album Radio Cowgirl was the first release on scene prime mover SFTRI -and ultimately inspired a resurgence of classic 1976 Ramones/Saints/ Heartbreakers-style punk that stretched across the US into Europe, Japan and elsewhere, inspiring bands like the New Bomb Turks, Oblivions, Teengenerate, Onyas and countless others.

The Lazy Cowgirls were but a memory in 2006 when Pat Todd and the The Rankoutsiders' 28 song double-disc debut, The Outskirts of Your Heart was released. Where most bands would have exhausted their creative gas to fumes with such an ambitious first release, this was only the beginning for the The Rankoutsiders. Prior to the new album Sons of the City Ditch, theThe Rankoutsiders have released six full-length albums (yes, some are double discs) and over a dozen singles and EPs and have more releases queued up. Each and every one of them is a testament to Pat’s personal vision of raw, high energy rock’n’roll infused with elements of country and rhythm and blues, and documentary proof that the The Rankoutsiders are one of the hottest rock'n'roll bands on the planet.

Indeed, it must be said the The Rankoutsiders truly are a band: energetically flanking Pat stage left is long-time guitarist and vocalist Kevin Keller; to the right is guitarist and founding member, Nick Alexander- the cool, calm and collected eye of the storm; bassist Steven Vigh holds the lower frequencies in check with steadfast authority, pushing the chorus to the next harmonic level, while drummer Walt Phelan drives the engine hard while keeping the band on the rails.

Pre-order a copy of the Sons Of The City Ditch  on Dog Meat Records via Bandcamp right here. Listen to the first track "Livin' In A World Of Hurt" along with their recent single "Swagger & Stagger" and a few rippin' live performances at the Redwood Bar and shows in Germany and France below. 

Rankoutsiders team up with Guerrilla Teens for Stones salute

What do you get when two great r'n'r bands pay tribute to one of the greatest r'n'r albums of all time? A one-two punch of a split single!

When Pat Todd told us he was going to tackle the Stones' "All Down the Line", we just knew the Rankoutsiders were going to nail it, and we were right! For the B side, Portland's Guerrilla Teens (featuring Scott "Deluxe" Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse of The Humpers and Lovesores) belt out a rollicking, take-no-prisoners "Rip This Joint" that rolls like a bus with no brakes hurtling downhill. Get it from Medication Records via Bandcamp right here!