BABYRAT - Roses
Debut Single • Standalone (2026). Cork City, Ireland.
Cork’s BABYRAT Turn Breakup Spite into Colourful ‘Bitch-Pop’
Hailing from Cork City, Ireland, BABYRAT are a four-piece turning razor-sharp guitars, huge pop hooks and technicolour attitude into a sound they call “bitch-pop”—or, in their own words, “pop music wearing rock music’s clothes.” Formed in late 2024, the band unusually built their reputation almost entirely through live performance before releasing any music, progressing from local Battle of the Bands shows to sold-out Cork and London dates, major Irish festivals and support slots with artists including Jack White, Taking Back Sunday, Bell X1, The Coronas and Feeder. “Roses” is their long-awaited debut single and the first recorded introduction to the colourful world they have already built onstage.
Roses: When Heartbreak Turns into Spite
Originally written acoustically by vocalist Zoe Jordan following a bitter breakup, “Roses” captures the point where falling out of love stops being sentimental and starts becoming spiteful. But the song is equally interested in what happens afterwards: late nights, new friendships and the liberating experience of finding your people. Real Cork nightlife becomes part of the story, with the lyrics referencing evenings moving from acoustic sessions at The Roundy to dancing at An Bróg.
Musically, BABYRAT transform that emotional messiness into an immediate collision of power-pop hooks, indie-rock guitars and punk attitude. The Strokes inform the guitar-driven arrangements, while Paramore's expansive rock production and the sharp pop songwriting associated with Olivia Rodrigo help explain the band's unusual middle ground between rock and pop. Produced by band member Jamie Kierans alongside Alessandro Di Camillio, “Roses” takes the energy of a song already tested more than 75 times onstage and gives it the scale of a proper pop-rock debut.
Why It Matters: New Bands Are Building Communities Before Chasing Streams
BABYRAT's arrival reverses one of the dominant assumptions of the streaming era. Instead of releasing songs first and hoping an audience eventually materialises, they spent nearly two years building the audience in physical spaces—through gigs, festivals, shared demos, friendships and an increasingly recognisable visual identity—before putting their first official recording online.
That makes “Roses” more than a debut single. It demonstrates how live culture can once again become the starting point rather than the reward for online success. By the time BABYRAT officially entered the streaming world, the song already belonged to their audience. For a band obsessed with coming-of-age experiences, friendship, colour, heartbreak and bad decisions, that feels particularly appropriate: BABYRAT aren't trying to manufacture a community around their music—the community came first.
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