The Rapture
Pieces Of The People We Love
I was very underwhelmed with 2003's Echoes and so really wasn't expecting to feel anything but a confounded sense of self-righteousness about this record. The Rapture were the embodiment of all the pretension of the post-punk revival, creating edgy, dance rock about nothing at all and insisting on it all being told with self-consciously grating vocals. However with Pieces Of The People We Love we see that in 3 years The Rapture seem to have calmed down and focused on the music, easing off on the cliches that dogged their earlier work. Here we see a more mature sound and a far more coherent album. Luke Jenner's vocals are restrained compared to Echoes and except for the first track they resist the need to quickly drop into the catchy repeated chorus that they did so often before.
The title track is the first hint that this band has moved on and this is largely down to the fact that the mighty Danger Mouse produced it. This is the first of two tracks produced by him and it shows a layered depth of sound that doesn't go for the quick sell. This makes Get Myself Into It all the more appealing as it does go for that instant fix and it really works. Its the first single off the album and out of context it sounds dull and predictable but in the right sequence it's Police-inspired harmonies and driving chorus are just what you need.
First Gear is for me the stand out track on this record building on a steady thudding beat, layered instruments and repeated backing vocals and weighing in at over 6 minutes but hinting that it could be longer. On first glance at the track listing Whoo! Alright Yeah...Uh Huh seemed to sum up this band as the aesthetically pleasing but ultimately meaningless, self-referential trash I had come to expect. But as it turns out it's a very amusing attack on their fans that stand in the crowd, arms folded and motionless. I thought this was an interesting observation as it's as if the fans were falling for the same 'too cool for school' crap that the band was. Maybe after hearing this album they might loosen up and enjoy themselves. The band obviously have.
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12th Oct 2006 - Tumblr
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