For nearly two decades, Chennai-based garage rock titans Skrat have been raising hell in the Indian indie scene, carving out their own gritty, lore-filled universe. If you haven’t been paying attention, you’ve been missing out on one of the most exciting homegrown bands to ever plug into an amp. Their music goes beyond lyrics and melodies carving a whole damn multiverse, the Skratverse, where their albums double as chapters in an ongoing comic book saga. Think Mad Max meets Saturday morning cartoons, but with fuzzed-out guitar riffs that could set your soul on fire. Skrat’s latest EP, Circus Act, is another piece of that puzzle—a five-track blast of raw, no-frills garage rock that dives into the origins of a new Skratverse character, Slingscot.
She starts off as a circus performer in her eponymous song, twirling and flipping through the air, until life sucker-punches her into a role she never asked for: an underground operative with a fate she can’t escape. If that sounds ridiculously cinematic, well, that’s Skrat for you. And the best part? You don’t need a decoder ring to enjoy the music—these songs hit just as hard whether or not you know the backstory.
Speaking of hits, the EP doesn’t hold back. Flashbang kicks things off with a sonic explosion, throwing you straight into Slingscot’s high-octane (yes, I know, but it fits here) world. The title track, Circus Act, is all sharp turns and barely-contained chaos, mirroring its protagonist’s descent into madness. Then there’s Radicade and X Human, both drenched in Skrat’s signature grit, balancing storytelling with anthemic, sweat-drenched rock energy.
The magic of this baby isn’t just in its concept, though. Skrat recorded Circus Act live in a garage, no metronomes, no overdubs—only the rawest and grimiest sounds. You can feel the room shake, hear the imperfections, and sense the band’s chemistry in every note. There’s a sort of honesty to it, a kind of controlled recklessness that you just don’t get in most modern recordings. Sriram TT’s vocals crackle with the kind of urgency that makes you believe every word, while Tapass Naresh and Jhanu Chanthar hold down a rhythm section so tight it could snap bones.
And let’s talk about the Skratverse for a second. Most bands tell stories in their lyrics, sure, but Skrat takes it a step further. They’re building a mythology, album by album, with recurring characters, interconnected plotlines, and a growing universe that rewards fans who dive deep. It’s the kind of world-building that makes their music an experience. And yet, even if you don’t care about the lore, Circus Act is still a hell of a ride.
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The real beauty of this EP is that it doesn’t demand anything from you. You can go full nerd and piece together the timeline, or you can just crank up the volume and lose yourself in five tracks of unapologetic, electrifying blues rock. Either way, Skrat has done it again. Circus Act is an invitation into something bigger, wilder, and completely their own. If this is just the prequel, I can’t wait to see where the Skratverse takes us next.
