That was really Bratty!

It's almost been a year since Charlie XCX’s hit album Brat first graced our ears. What did the album mean? Did Brat summer actually happen? I ask myself these profound questions as I drunkenly line up for Brat Bop outside the Union, suited for the occasion in a lime green light. I realise that I am wearing a trench coat, perhaps not the brattiest of choices, and search frantically for my ID. I ready myself — ‘Back to Back’ is already playing inside.

Brat shone a spotlight on an uninhibited and more carefree way of life, of consumption. The album challenged how we think of our appearances and relationships with others. Shall this album be remembered or swept under the carpet of the pop hall of fame? One thing is for sure, St Andrews students like bumpin’ that, and by that I mean the dance floor.

“We’re really excited for Kink Bop,” an anonymous attendee revealed as they made their way towards the music. I wonder if the night shall live up to these great, even if a little misguided, expectations and wish I had brought my gimp-suit.

As with any St Andrews Bop, success is decided by three principal factors: quality of  music, level of inebriation, and the frequency of interaction with one’s opps. The first doesn’t always need to be high, as long as the second is off the scale. The third can throw you off even when the bass of ‘365’ isn’t causing a minor earthquake. 

Naturally, a balance of all three can make for a truly memorable night, those vignettes of the ideal uni life so often forgotten in the throes of a hangover the next morning.

601 is a curious environment to say the least. I imagine David Attenborough describing the habitat made, for one night only, for the Charlie XCXs and the Troye Sivans of eastern Fife. I certainly felt the ‘rush’ as the density of the crowd condensed me and my friends into one indistinguishable and nebulous blob of arms, legs, and pints. I am told, however, that pressure makes diamonds, and diamonds are, after all, a brat’s best friend. 

To the anonymous attendee, on the record of course, the night was “incredible” but the “salad of music”, however, brought down the hedonistic mood. “One Direction is not Brat,” I heard another says as ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ boomed from the speakers. How Brat is One Direction? Both could be described as cultural phenomena, as widespread as the Plague in the Middle Ages, and yet only one is endorsed by model of the year, Alex Consani. In conclusion, hands on my knees, Angelina Jolie. 

Ultimately, Brat Bop was much like any other. One wonders why it wasn’t arranged earlier. One wonders why they played ‘Fein’. Perhaps it shall remain one of life’s many mysteries, an elusive and legendary enigma, much like Troye Sivan’s ardent beauty in the ‘One of Your Girls’ music video. All I can say is, I shall give the Union a call if I ever get lonely.

Photo by Jonathan Stock