RAT MOTEL

     Rat Motel is the Columbus-born buzz rock duo of Seth and Clayton Peacock. The brothers released their debut album in 2023, cementing their droney, artfully orchestrated nightscapes and massive, dual-cylinder live sets as an integral part of Ohio’s rock scene. The band went on to open for The Beths, Pile, The Dirty Nil, and Twen among others, playing support as well as headlining shows across the Midwest and East Coast. This fall, they will host their fourth annual RATFEST music festival in Columbus. Now half-based in Brooklyn, Rat Motel returns with their latest single, The Pile.” 

Seth Peacock shares, “The process of writing ‘The Pile’ was one of constant reinvention. It started out as a vaguely Ty Segall-style riff-centered garage rock tune back in 2023, but over the next year it became progressively murkier, until it was almost unrecognizable from the original. We demoed it to our standard metronome—a straight four-on-the-floor kick pattern—with no intention of keeping that track. But by the time we went into the studio, the song felt like a massive sea creature we had to keep chained down with the constant heartbeat of the metronome. In mixing, a series of La Femme-inspired percussion parts tied everything together, creating an infectious underwater groove we didn’t realize we had been building the entire time.”

This single follows the recently released Blanket, a song the brothers wrote together about an intense shared memory of getting lost in Alaskan wilderness, praised by Glide Magazine as “gritty, dizzying, and phantasmal.”

Music

Biography

     Rat Motel emerged with astounding elegance and ease for a structure of its size. When Old Man Winkle retired to the master suite for the last time there was a brief but violent power struggle resulting in the ascension of the brothers Peacock. (The rats, though indelibly embittered by this conclusion, were nonetheless satisfied that none of their own had clawed their way to the top.) In a fit of existential dread, unendearing arrogance, and a desperate yearning for eternity, a lofty aspect of the Motel rechristened itself “THE” Rat Motel, though the lower being refuses to carry the pretenses of such a definite article. It is what it is and that is enough. But try as The Rat Motel might to manifest the mad speculation of Zeno, the fact remains that Zeno was wrong. The infinite sum of one half raised to the power of each of the natural numbers is indeed equal to one; the hare will overtake the tortoise; and even THE Rat Motel, which towers below the universe with grinning pride, will one day crumble into THE dust of The Empty Plane with a predictable lack of elegance and ease.

Touring History

2025

5/17 Jersey City, NJ @ Pushing Up the Daisies

5/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Cassette

3/16 Louisville, KY @ Whirling Tiger

3/15 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub

3/14 Athens, OH @ The Union

3/13 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups (w/ The Dirty Nil)

2/13 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady

2/7 New Brunswick, NJ @ The Room

2/6 Jersey City, NJ @ Pet Shop

2/1 Philadelphia, PA @ Underworld

1/25 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (w/ Pile)

 
2024

12/27 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
12/21 New Brunswick, NJ @ Sunday School
 
12/20 Troy, NY @ NoFun
 
12/19 Brooklyn, NY @ ALPHAVILLE
 
12/18 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
 
12/6 Cleveland, OH @ No Class
 
11/13 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (w/ Twen)
 
9/1 Louisville, KY @ Whirling Tiger
 
8/31 Columbus, OH – RATFEST @ The Summit + Cafe Bourbon St.
 
8/30 Cleveland, OH @ CODA
 
8/29 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Club
 
6/8 Columbus, OH @ The Basement
 
5/26 Boyds, MD @ The Garage
 
5/25 Washington, DC @ DC9
 
5/24 Brooklyn, NY @ The Broadway
 
5/23 Jersey City, NJ @ Sip Studios
 
5/12 Manhattan, NY @ Tompkins Sq Park
 
5/11 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
 
5/10 Columbus, OH @ The Basement
 
5/4 Lexington, KY @ The Green Lantern
 
5/3 Dayton, OH @ Belmont Billiards
 
5/2 Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s
 
5/1 Cincinnati, OH @ Northside Tavern
 
2/9 Louisville, KY @ Whirling Tiger
 
2/8 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
2023
 
12/31 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
12/30 North Bergen, NJ @ Lackawanna Coffee
 
12/29 Jersey City, NJ @ Sip Studios
 
12/28 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
 
12/23 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
12/22 Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog
 
12/21 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
 
12/16 Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall
 
11/11 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
10/28 Columbus, OH @ The Crypt
 
10/27 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
9/2 Columbus, OH – RATFEST @ The Summit + Cafe Bourbon St.
 
9/1 Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s
 
8/31 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
7/31 Manhattan, NY @ Arlene’s Grocery
 
7/29 Jersey City, NJ @ Corgi Spirits
 
7/22 New Brunswick, NJ @ Gallery 33
 
7/21 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
 
7/20 Philadelphia, PA @ Haus of Yarga
 
6/4 Nashville, TN @ Two Boots
 
6/3 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
 
6/2 Louisville, KY @ Luigi’s Mansion
 
6/1 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
 
5/13 Philadelphia, PA @ The Haven
 
5/12 New Brunswick, NJ @ The Laundromat
 
5/11 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
5/7 East Haven, CT @ The Beeracks
 
5/6 Brooklyn, NY @ East Williamsburg Econo Lodge
 
5/5 Albany, NY @ Hudson Station
 
5/4 Jersey City, NJ @ Pet Shop
 
5/3 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
 
4/15 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
3/18 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
2/22 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
2022
 
12/31 New Brunswick, NJ @ The Grander Canyon
 
12/30 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
12/29 Jersey City, NJ @ Corgi Spirits
 
12/28 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
 
12/26 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
12/17 Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog
 
12/16 Louisville, KY @ Kaiju
 
12/15 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
 
12/10 Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl
 
9/18 Cincinnati, OH @ The Motel
 
9/16 Columbus, OH – RATFEST @ The Summit + Cafe Bourbon St.
 
9/15 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
8/20 Philadelphia, PA @ The Crawlspace
 
8/19 New Brunswick, NJ @ The Grander Canyon
 
8/18 Paterson, NJ @ Prototype 237
 
8/17 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
 
7/17 Brooklyn, NY @ 18th Ward Brewing
 
7/16 Binghamton, NY @ House Show
 
7/15 Manhattan, NY @ Heaven Can Wait
 
7/14 Jersey City, NJ @ Pet Shop
 
7/9 Columbus, OH @ The Cellar
 
7/8 Cincinnati, OH @ Northside Tavern
 
7/2 Brooklyn, NY @ Purgatory
 
7/1 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
 
6/18 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
6/17 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
6/11 Dayton, OH @ Blind Bob’s
 
6/4 Boonton, NJ @ RedHouse
 
6/3 Brooklyn, NY @ Trans-Pecos
 
6/2 Jersey City, NJ @ Greenspace Studios
 
5/21 Cincinnati, OH @ The Motel
 
4/23 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
 
4/22 Cincinnati, OH @ Bellevue Park
 
4/16 Manhattan, NY @ Berlin Under A
 
4/15 Union City, NJ @ Crave 43
 
3/19 Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness
 
3/18 Athens, OH @ The Union    
 
3/12 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire
 
3/11 New Brunswick, NJ @ Barca City
 
3/10 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
2/13 Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye
 
2/12 Troy, NY @ No Fun
 
2/5 Elizabeth, NJ @ The Litterbox
 
2/4 Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber Pass Pub
 
1/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Century
 
1/21 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
1/15 Columbus, OH @ The Zoo
 
1/14 Athens, OH @ The Union
 
2021
 
12/4 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
 
12/3 Cincinnati, OH @ The Comet
 
12/2 Louisville, KY @ Never Say Die Bar
 
11/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
 
11/27 Trenton, NJ @ Mill Hill Saloon
 
11/26 Manhattan, NY @ Berlin Under A
 
10/13 Brooklyn, NY @ Our Wicked Lady
 
10/10 Newport, KY @ Thompson House
 
10/8 Columbus, OH @ Natalie’s
 
10/7 Athens, OH @ The Union


 
2018
 
10/7 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (w/ The Beths)