Rifle is a new band from London, UK, you're probably going to hear
a lot about in the coming months as this short demo seems to be only a
teaser for what's gonna come next. I don't who these guys are exactly but I would
not be surprised if they're connected in one way or another with the
Chubby And The Gang / The Chisel gang.
All I know is that one of them plays in
Fur
from Brighton.
Four tracks, 7 minutes of music, is not that much but it's more than enough to understand that Rifle's already found their own style. Embracing a kind of vintage / demo tape sound which takes us back to the end of the 70s / early 80s, these guys manage to mix the raw side of late 70s British punk (Chelsea, Menace, The Users) with some rock'n roll guitar riffs and a "street attitude" leaving no doubt about the "oi! background" some of these guys have.
Yes there's something of the very obscure (and sometimes very politically dodgy) oi! demos/tapes from the early 80s that all the "real oi! lovers" cherish in secret (I won't mention any names for obvious reasons). Obvious on The Flag, these influences meet a few melodic guitar lines at the end of Feet First that don't fit in the limits of the genre but add a very enjoyable little something that makes the difference between new bands with the right influences and uninspired worship bands.
The vocals are definitely one of the strongest, and catchy, points of Rifle's songs. The singer masterfully delivers a catchy and powerful, but not really aggressive, vocal that sounds, above all, extremely British, and you guys know that this is a big part of the charm that many bands from the perfidious Albion exude. I would like to emphasize my particular fondness for the very good anti-war song Feet First, particularly and sadly relevant these days.
So yes that's a great demo that makes me think of what some Aussie bands delivered a couple of years ago, Gaffer for example (even if they're obviously more influenced by Crisis) and most of all Punter, probably the closest sound to Rifle I can think of at the moment even if they tend to add a lot of woo-hoo here and there and have a stronger "hardcore punk" vibe.
Just go for it, listen to that shit, I'm telling you it's just the beginning of the Rifle era!
PS: No Solution Ltd / Urban Decline Archive made a very limited tape release of the demo in the US if you're interested...
N,J'Oi!
