Fret Rattles “As the World Falls Apart” 2026. Ghost Highway Records. We caught the hard rocking Minnesotans set this past Friday night at X-Ray Arcade and picked up their latest LP at the merch table, along with an older record, a bunch of 45’s and bassist Sir Chadwick (aka Chad Johnson) generously threw in some extras, too. What a show! What an album! Channeling fellow Midwesterners, protopunkers The Stooges, Dead Boys and MC5, Fret Rattles stomped and swaggered through a slew of killer garage rock songs with a sound that one reviewer on the album’s hype sticker class “an unrelenting barrage of scissor-kicks to your thorax.” As the World Falls Apart is the band’s third/fourth album. We’ve had their first record (which I don’t think is counted in their official discography) cleverly titled The First One (from 2012 and not on a record label) for a few years now having seen them in 2022 (or at least Joe did, I can’t remember if I was there or not) and have been fans since. The album is high energy garage punk with twin guitars for a big-ass shred sound and a wickedly-paced beat. I know for sure they performed the song “Flavor of the Month” at the show (it’s great!). My other top tracks include the Motörheadesque “Running with Scissors;” their cover of the Dead Boys’ “What Love Is” that features former Fret Rattles musician Rob Tossava (also in Vasoline Alley, Trim Reaper, Goo Goo Mucks All-Stars) who died from cancer this past spring; the snotty “Don’t Wanna Know,” and the frenetic ass-shaker “Already Dead.” I didn’t record any video at the show but here’s a clip from their performance this past summer at GBUFO’s Invasion Fest up in Green Bay.