Seminal Rats were an Australian punk, indie rock band which existed from 1984 until the death of their lead guitarist, Michael Weber, in January 1999.

[3] In the late 1980s McNeair and Weber formed the Slush Puppies with Shane Grubb on bass guitar and Phil Rose on lead vocals.

[5][6] In January 1999, Michael Weber died of a heroin overdose; Seminal Rats broke up, although they periodically returned to performing either as Cantankerous or under their original name.

[7] A 2× CD compilation album, The Essential Seminal Rats 1984-1991, was issued in August 2007, Trevor Block of Mess+Noise noticed, "[they] erupted into this landscape and quickly gained a firm foothold.

Five suburban lads with no sense of fashion, or coolness, just a fervent desire to play music that burned the ear the same way their own favourites did... [Weber and Harley] had an amazing degree of technical skill matched with powerful onstage presence, knowing just when to push and when to pull back.