The Rapture - The Sound

I've been listening to the song 'The Sound' by The Rapture on repeat all week long. I know it's not exactly a new song, but hey, I had yet to establish this blog when Pieces Of The People We Love was released back in 2006.

The first time I had ever heard The Rapture was in either 2002 or 2003. 'Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks' was my first introduction, and I thought it was a fantastic track and a decent EP. It was raw, angular, noisy and energetic. When The Rapture's first full length album, Echoes was released in 2003 I was surprised to hear that the raw, somewhat amateur sound featured on their EP had all but disappeared and been replaced with a layer of shiny and polished studio production. Still, It managed to become one of my favorite albums to be released in 2003. If I remember anything about that year in music, it was that bands such as The Rapture received both critical acclaim but also a lot of flack from music listeners. There were a lot of bands accused of ripping off post-punk and dance-punk bands from the late 1970s. The most blatant and obvious influence on all of these new bands was Gang of Four. I've been a big fan of Gang of Four myself for years, but it didn't make me hate The Rapture. In all likelihood it may have been the likeness in sound that initially drew me to The Rapture rather than repel me from their music. In 2003, everyone knew of The Rapture, yet I didn't know anyone besides myself and my sister who liked them or had given them a chance. I'm confident The Rapture has a boatload or two of devoted fans, but I also feel they are an underrated band that is easily overlooked.

2006 saw the release of The Rapture's second full length album, Pieces of the People We Love. This is probably the most cohesive sounding and accessible release from the band, yet it manages to not sound over-produced. If anything, the album proves that these guys are immensely talented and have a great deal of staying power. Pieces of the People We Love is an amalgam of post-punk, dance-rock, disco, electronic music, and an infinite amount of other styles. I've also heard from others that it sounds like hippie music. No matter what you think the album sounds like, I think it's safe to say that The Rapture have really come into their own and have progressed their sound quite a lot over the past few years. Basically, Pieces of the People We Love affirms that these guys aren't just another Gang of Four rip-off band.

My immediate favorite off of the album was 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh' aka 'W.A.Y.U.H.', which features the best and most complex cowbell utilization I've ever heard in a song. 'Don Gon Do It' amuses me because the chorus sounds like a combination of Montell Jordan's 'This Is How We Do It' and The Backstreet Boys' 'We've Got It Goin On'. I'm still trying to figure out if either of those were intentional or not. Anyway, the whole album is impressive. One song, 'Get Myself Into It' even features an excessive amount of saxophone and I still like it. Earlier this week I was listening to music and 'The Sound' came on at random and I was blown away. It's not a track that had stood out to me before. Now I can't stop listening to it. I think it's the combination of cowbell, amazing drumming, loud guitars, synthesizer, the vocals... okay, well, pretty much every single element of the song sounds great.

Here is a live performance of The Rapture performing 'The Sound' in 2006. It's sort of remarkable how great they sound live here:

Too esoteric for a Saturday night...

MP3: The Rapture - The Sound (zshare)
MP3: The Rapture - Don Gon Do It (zshare)

Purchase music by The Rapture here:

If you failed to give The Rapture a fair chance before, I suggest that you do so now. Hop to it.