Music Reviews
Artist:
The Rumble StripsTitle:
Girls and WeatherLabel:
Island RecordsWebsite:
http://www.therumblestrips.com
It’s a curiously British trait to elevate home grown prodigies to seemingly unassailable heights, only to turn in on them at the first sign of weakness. But if youth is decisive in the inexorable rise to indie-god status, Tavistock quartet The Rumble Strips must learn to handle the accolades being heaped on their young shoulders. Their long awaited debut drips with the sweat of adolescent longing, and comes armed with a breezy disrespect for influences that borders on an all out pillaging of Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
From the Madness-esque swagger of early single ‘Alarm Clock’, complete with its wailing trumpets and sax breaks, to the dizzyingly irresistible chorus of ‘Oh Creole’, and menacing 'Motorcycle', the quartet have assembled an album that will cement its place in many end of year polls.
Propelled by singer Charlie Waller’s lilting charisma, which flits between Robert Smith on opener ‘No Soul’ and Kevin Rowland on ‘Time’s urgent call and response vocals, the brevity of each track creates a musical density that's occasionally bewildering, but never threatens to overwhelm.
Typically, from an album that owes a debt to Supergrass' 'I Should Coco' and Special Needs' 'Funfairs & Heartbreak', the sombre moments are few. The relationship troubles of 'Hate Me' (You Do) - the clue is in the title - is a rare moment of introspection in a highly spirited release.
But it's when the quartet are at their most unrestrained that they excel. Recent single 'Girls and Boys In Love' shows a healthy disdain for intellectualising lyrics; "Move to the city, loose all your heart/She weren't that pretty, he ain't that smart", while the repetitious 'Clouds' and doo-wop homage 'Don't Dumb Down' are disarming in their melding of the eccentric and mundane. At times the wackiness grates, but this is a minor gripe. The Strips' incessant touring shows no sign of ending, and their inspirational rise gathers pace. It leaves one final mystery; how do they take that giant drum on tour?
Rating: 4/5
Label: Island Records
Words:
Alex Donohue
