Post-Punk Party Boys Just Want to Have Fun
By Craig Rosen
Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 24) - The panties on sale at the merch table were a dead giveaway. The Rapture 's 75-minute set Monday at the Music Box might have featured edgy dance-rock driven by relentless beats, throbbing bass lines, jagged guitar riffs and howling vocals, but this wasn't your father's post-punk.
While the New York-based quartet drew upon the sounds of such great late-1970s/early-'80s acts as Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd., there was no political manifesto or gloomy detachment. Rather, the boys in the band just wanted to have fun rocking the house with songs like "Whoo! Alright -- Yeah . . . Uh Huh," from its recently released Universal album "Pieces of the People We Love."
To its credit, the Rapture had the crowd moving through much of the show, with a mosh pit even breaking out at one point. In a town known for crowds that do nothing more than stand staring with their arms folded, it was refreshing to see hipper-than-thou indie kids shaking their groove thangs.
The audience members weren't the only ones in perpetual motion. Decked out in T-shirts, jeans and slacks, and tennis shoes, the Rapture's front line of singer-guitarist Luke Jenner, bassist-singer Matt Safer and saxophonist-keyboardist-percussionist Gabe Andruzzi was constantly on the move. Jenner busted out guitar hero poses as if he were a member of Wolfmother; blasting his sax and pummeling a cowbell, Andruzzi skanked like a refugee from some long-forgotten ska band. All the while, the rhythm section of Safer and relentless drummer Vito Roccoforte kept the lock-step beats coming.
For the most part, the Rapture wasn't mopey or dark, but it did attempt to bring things down with "Killing," a commentary on senseless murder. At numerous times during the song, Jenner hoisted his guitar onto his shoulder as if it were a rifle and took aim at the crowd.
In all, the Rapture did a fine job of re-creating British post-punk's sound, right down to faux English accents. Yet sometimes its thievery was a bit too transparent. Midway through the set, when Jenner ranted "Echoes," the title track of the band's 2003 debut album, his vocal lines sounded as if they had been directly lifted from John Lydon's on PiL's "Careering," but the atmospheric "Metal Box"-era gloom had been replaced by a throbbing Gang of Four-styled workout.
For those not fortunate enough to have seen the real thing, the Rapture will do. However, the elders who caught some of the group's influences during their prime were likely longing for the days when such sounds were exciting, new and a little bit dangerous rather than just another spirited retread. Most of the fans in the crowd, however, didn't seem to mind. To paraphrase the song title printed on those panties for sale in the lobby, they just wanted to get themselves into it.
While the New York-based quartet drew upon the sounds of such great late-1970s/early-'80s acts as Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd., there was no political manifesto or gloomy detachment. Rather, the boys in the band just wanted to have fun rocking the house with songs like "Whoo! Alright -- Yeah . . . Uh Huh," from its recently released Universal album "Pieces of the People We Love."
To its credit, the Rapture had the crowd moving through much of the show, with a mosh pit even breaking out at one point. In a town known for crowds that do nothing more than stand staring with their arms folded, it was refreshing to see hipper-than-thou indie kids shaking their groove thangs.
The audience members weren't the only ones in perpetual motion. Decked out in T-shirts, jeans and slacks, and tennis shoes, the Rapture's front line of singer-guitarist Luke Jenner, bassist-singer Matt Safer and saxophonist-keyboardist-percussionist Gabe Andruzzi was constantly on the move. Jenner busted out guitar hero poses as if he were a member of Wolfmother; blasting his sax and pummeling a cowbell, Andruzzi skanked like a refugee from some long-forgotten ska band. All the while, the rhythm section of Safer and relentless drummer Vito Roccoforte kept the lock-step beats coming.
For the most part, the Rapture wasn't mopey or dark, but it did attempt to bring things down with "Killing," a commentary on senseless murder. At numerous times during the song, Jenner hoisted his guitar onto his shoulder as if it were a rifle and took aim at the crowd.
In all, the Rapture did a fine job of re-creating British post-punk's sound, right down to faux English accents. Yet sometimes its thievery was a bit too transparent. Midway through the set, when Jenner ranted "Echoes," the title track of the band's 2003 debut album, his vocal lines sounded as if they had been directly lifted from John Lydon's on PiL's "Careering," but the atmospheric "Metal Box"-era gloom had been replaced by a throbbing Gang of Four-styled workout.
For those not fortunate enough to have seen the real thing, the Rapture will do. However, the elders who caught some of the group's influences during their prime were likely longing for the days when such sounds were exciting, new and a little bit dangerous rather than just another spirited retread. Most of the fans in the crowd, however, didn't seem to mind. To paraphrase the song title printed on those panties for sale in the lobby, they just wanted to get themselves into it.
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