Tuesday, July 14, 2009

THE RIFLES

If you took everything that's great about British pop music, sprinkled in a bit of the Clash and other various influences from the period. Then mixed in a heavy helping of the Jam,(one of my all time favorite bands) you would have a fantastic musical dish called the Rifles. I have to tell you, without question, in the States where I live mainstream radio sucks! For the most part anything good, that comes out is usually underground. I truly feel I was born out of time, or maybe just in the wrong place. You people that live in parts of the world that actually pay attention to bands like this have no idea how lucky you are. I would love to be able to turn on my radio and here music like this. I read that in the U.K, both of these records charted in the top 30 and as usual barely even a blip here. Anyway I'll stop bitching about my once free country, that's been hijacked in just about every way by greedy Corporations. Both of these albums are incredible !! I highly recommend you check out the links at the bottom, and go pick these albums up.The Rifles are from Chingford, London, the band consists of Joel Stoker (vocals, guitar), Lucus Crowther (guitar, vocals), Rob Pyne (bass guitar, vocals), and Grant Marsh (drums, percussion) & session musician Dean Mumford on Keys.
Joel Stoker and Lucus Crowther met at Redbridge College in 2003. They were both inspired by an Oasis concert the two attended in Knebworth, England. Guitarist Crowther revealed "From that moment on we knew we had to start a band."After adding bassist Rob Pyne, who Joel knew from school, and drummer Grant Marsh, who Luke met in the Candy Box club, The Rifles performed their first gig at The Bull & Gate pub in Kentish Town, London in 2004.
The Rifles first official release was a 7" demo of Peace & Quiet released by Blow Up Records. The band switched to fellow independent label Xtra Mile Recordings for their May 2005 release of the single When I'm Alone, which would go on to reach number 64 in the UK charts. Later that year the band's next single Local Boy would be released via Right Hook Recordings. It would get airplay on the Saturday morning show Soccer AM and would help give the band more exposure and even help them become regular guests on the show. The Rifles released two singles, Repeated Offender and She's Got Standards, ahead of the July 17 release of their debut album No Love Lost, which peaked at 26 in the UK charts. The band toured in 2006, and performed at A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise 2007 and Paaspop Schijndel 2007, two music festivals in the Netherlands. The Rifles launched their European tour to promote their new album including a gig at the Forum, London, at which Paul Weller (The Jam) appeared on stage to play the song She's the Only One with the band, and The Jam's famous single, "The Eton Rifles". The Rifles would release a free download of the song No Love Lost two days after the release of their album.
Touring on the back of their album No Love Lost, The Rifles again released a free download, this time of their single Talking on October 20 2007. The single garnered high accolades from BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe, who called it the "Hottest Record in the World". Talking also marks the bands label switch from Red Ink to 679 Recordings. On July 21 2008, the single I Could Never Lie was released on a limited edition vinyl.The Rifles also made appearances at the Underage Festival and the V Festival in the summer and played an extensive tour throughout October and November in 2008.
When the band's second album was delayed from October 2008 to January 2009, The Rifles created The Rifles EP that fans could download on the internet. The Rifles released their second album Great Escape on 26 January 2009, which peaked at 27 in the UK charts and reached the number 2 slot in the UK indie charts.
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REFERENCES - WIKIPEDIA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rifles_(band) THE RIFLES MYSPACE http://www.myspace.com/therifles THE RIFLES OFFICIAL WEBSITE http://www.therifles.net/
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NO LOVE LOST
***DOWNLOAD***
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THE GREAT ESCAPE
***DOWNLOAD***

4 comments:

topper said...

thanks for the Rifles

Mr. Suave said...

Another great write up about one of my favorite bands as well. If you have time and the inclination shoot me an e-mail at rob@mistersuave.com, I'd love to share an idea about my modcast and see what you think.

The Modern Republic said...

This band in my opinion is one of the best newer bands in England today. I was lucky enough to see them 3 times in NYC when they came to America with Paul Weller and even got to meet the lads. Such a quality and real band. I can play both of these albums over and over again. Its brilliant that they create a feel that just makes me feel excited and makes me feel like I'm living their lives through their songs. So few bands nowadays really create that relation. We're gonna see a lot more from this band over then next decade, I'm sure of it. Thanks for the write-up. You've given much more effort to your Rifles post than mine. Cheers!

Frank Miller said...

The Rifles are supposed to play Philadelphia, on Sep. 22. I have full intentions of going to check them out. Thanks for the great comments