The Rifles

I think it's a case of straight to the point with this post. The brand new album by The Rifles entitled "None The Wiser" which came this week is quite simply an absolute belter. It has been a long wait for it to come out, but it has been more than worth it. It is the band's 4th studio album and it more than holds its own with their previous efforts. What does it sound like? I don't think there is any harm in making comparisons to bands like The Jam, but for me it just sounds like The Rifles! Elements from all the previous 3 albums are in there so we get the fast energetic melodic guitar tracks as well as some beautifully crafted acoustic sounding slower tempo songs. I think my favourite song on the album at the moment is "You Win Some", which has a fantastic unofficial video to go with it, but seeing as I am playing the album non stop at the moment I am sure this will change in the days ahead. It seems these days that guitar driven bands like The Rifles struggle to get much radio airplay, which is simply beyond belief. It can't be because the music is not popular as the band have no problem filling concert venues and the new album is riding high at number 6 in the midweek charts during its first week of release. Its about time radio stations stopped deciding for themselves what is and what is not popular and created their playlists a little bit more based on facts...

I kind of missed out early Rifles material at the time, and not sure why as its bloody brilliant including the wonderful "She's Got Standards". By the time I got round to trying to buy the debut album "No Love Lost" it had been deleted. As much as I love the band I refuse to pay the high prices now being asked for the album so I had to resort to downloading it from a file sharing site. I shall have to hope that one day it gets reissued so as to get a genuine copy.

However I was right on cue to buy "Great Escape" the fantastic 2nd album. This album has been my favourite album by them to date, and I think it will be a close run thing with the new album as to whether it remains so. This album contains the live favourite anthem of "Romeo & Julie", which when seen live with a crowd in full song is about as good as things get at any gig...

The third album "Freedom Run" continued the run of quality material being released by the band. Around this time I was due to go and see the band live for the first time at The Coronet in London, I had my ticket and everything was set, and then unforeseen circumstances prevented me from going at the last minute. I put this right in 2012 going to see an acoustic show in Oxford which was amazing. Last year I went Rifles mad seeing the acoustic tour in Reading, then 3 dates in one week in November with the original line up playing back together, plus finishing off going to a Christmas concert at the Boogaloo in London. I am looking forward to seeing them on tour this spring in London.

Don't underestimate this band. They write rousing guitar driven anthems with lyrics that are both insightful and connect with their audience. They have also released 2 acoustic albums on their website of the songs of their career to date, and this is where the stripped back versions let the lyrics come much more to the forefront. This a band at the top of their game.

A Week With The Rifles

What a way to spend the dark late autumn evenings. Having never seen the full Rifles electric live show I booked up to 3 concerts on the current tour with the original line up. In fact 3 gigs in 4 days, which would be a test of stamina for a golden oldie such as your truly!

The week started in Oxford on Tuesday November 12 at the Oxford Academy. Being a school night and with the venue being a bus ride away from the railway station I decided to drive from Reading. I was pleasantly surprised to find space in the tiny car park close to the venue. A young homeless girl was doing great business instructing numpties like me on how to put money into the machine as it was one of those silly machines that required your car registration number. I think she was handing out instructions regardless whether you neeeded them or not in the hope of getting some loose change. Arriving at the venue at 8:00 I was a little surprised to see The Rifles were not due on stage until 10:00pm, but at least it gave me the opporunity to listen to the support bands, Dexters and Life In Film. I have to say I was particulary impressed with Dexters. My bad back held firm and 10:00 came and on stage arrived The Rifles. What a joy to see them in their full glory. It was a great set with the band playing for about an hour and playing stuff from their 3 albums plus new tracks from the forthcoming album. I think the late start meant they ran out of time depriving the audience of "Romeo & Julie" at the end with a strict 11:00 curfew in place. I drove back to Reading a happy man. The video below from Oxford is "Local Boy" and no matter how hard I try I keep getting spelling errors in the title so I apologise for "Oxfod" in the title, but I never intended to have a career in video production!

With the Wednesday off to recharge my batteries we moved on to Reading on Thursday November 14th at SUB 89. Always nice to see your favourite bands on the doorstep and I was able to get a bus to and from the town centre. My original plan was to have a bite to eat at the Oakwood Social Club, but this was thwarted by some problem in the kitchens requiring water to be pumped out! So plan b was to go to O'Neills for a Magners and a burger. Adequate if not particulary memorable... With still an hour to kill I decided to go to the Hop Tap close to the venue for another drink. The Hop Tap is a Wetherspoons pub and as soon as I sat down with my drink I thought to myself no! Sure the pub sold cheap beer but I really hope I don't end up like some of the folks in there in another 15 years or so. To be fair I always have a dating head on and it is definitely not a pulling pub! Note to one self spend a few extra pennies next time and go to a decent pub. My timing was good though as I arrived at SUB 89 just after 9:00 and only had to wait a few minutes before the arrival of The Rifles. It was in truth a very similar set to the Oxford one, but I felt there was a warmer atmosphere in the venue and and a better cross section of people in there. It was a brilliant set and had the added bonus of the band closing with "Romeo & Julie". The video below from Reading is of "Robin Hood".

With just a short bus ride home and having had a few drinks I decided to hang around afterwards and picked a copy of the 7" limited editon "Heebie Jeebies". All the band came to the merchandise desk so along with many others I got my copy signed so went home a merry chappy.

With no respite the following night, Friday November 15th, it was off up to The Forum in Kentish Town for the final show in my trillogy. The journey got off to a poor start with no seats on the train from Reading to Paddington. I suspect the England international at Wembley had something to do with this. Things did not get much better on the tube with delays on the Victoria line so I had to change my route a little to get there. On leaving the tube station 2 police cars went screeching past and I immediately thought "Welcome to London". The plan was to have a bite to eat and I had been suggested to try the Kentish Canteen. However it was full and I have to admit looked a bit too posh for a pre gig meal. I do however know where to take a lady out for a bite to eat if I ever date anyone in Kentish Town! Instead I went to the Gulshaan Indian restaurant and enjoyed a lovely lamb byriani washed down by 2 pints of Kingsisher. On entering the venue I was immediated taken back by the size of the crowd. The place was packed and it was just on such a bigger scale than the 2 previous shows. Once again it was a great cross section of people and the atmosphere had a really good vibe to it. I was not overly impressed with the yellow jacketed security numpties who seemed rather over zealous and the way they shone their power torches during the set was a little too gestapo like! One poor soul close to me was taken out for smoking so missed most of the set. Surely a tap on the wrists would have been sufficient? Anyway I digress as the set by The Rifles was stunning. They had certainly saved the best for last and it seemed the audience were bouncing off the band and visa versa. The set was a good 30 minutes longer than the other 2 shows and the band seemed to be in their element. One of the finest gigs I have been to in a very long time. A rather tedious and long journey home was fine as the show made everything worth while. The song I filmed in London was "Peace & Quiet". I didn't film "Romeo & Julie" at any of the shows as it is a song to get involved with and enjoy rather than stand and hold a camera and film...

 

So what next after such a great week? Well I have booked up to go to one of The Rifles acoustic Christmas shows at the Boogaloo in London in December, which will be a great end to the gigging year for me. I have seen the band acoustically a couple of times before so I know I am in for a treat!