B-Side Guys

Mint Condish questions whether he was a fool to think their conscience wasn’t bred out long ago, watching paradise collapse beneath the weight of overflow. The solo artist—a bass player for cover bands his whole life, first time flying solo—filters Western society through John Calhoun’s 1962 Rat Utopia experiment, that infamous behavioral study where rodent overpopulation led to total social breakdown. But “Rat Utopia” doesn’t just reference the experiment academically; it lives inside it, recognizing the singer as one of the rats realizing too late what’s happening.

The lyrics capture the specific helplessness of seeing patterns no one else acknowledges. He’s caught in a trap, simple as that—paraded his face through a town full of masks while Johnny Calhoun laughs. The reference to history not being written by the likes of him cuts to the heart of it: even when you see the collapse coming, being believed requires credibility the system won’t grant you. So you become a beautiful mouse combing your hair for no reason other than seeing the mirror and smiling instead of ugly crying to no one but friends in the attic.

The production embraces alternative folk-punk and Americana fever dream aesthetics, supporting rather than overwhelming the narrative. When he sings “hickory dickory dock, run the clock out / dissociate and escape into the clouds,” it captures the dual response to recognizing you’re trapped—going through meaningless routines while mentally checking out. The repeated observation that “cheaters never win” becomes darkly ironic when everyone’s pretty quick to eat their own just to feel sure they’re not alone in this rat utopia they call home.

What gives the track its edge is the warning embedded in references to ’62 and ’68—pattern recognition suggesting this has happened before and will happen again. The other mice knew better when they told him to hide away. He had to learn the hard way. Now he’s hoping he’s learned enough to pass it on: just like in ’68, they’re gonna come for you all too.