THE RAPTURE, "MIRROR"/ "OUT OF THE RACES AND ONTO THE TRACKS"

Gravity / Sub Pop
Yet another in a recent onslaught of bands with names beginning with"the", The Rapture are a noisy three-piece post-post-punk outfit fromNew York City. The Rapture are riding a wave of trendy postpunkrevivalism, but have managed to emerge with a fairly unique identityand an engaging, dynamic energy on record. Judging by this first album,their recent SubPop EP, and the current underground hit 12" single "TheHouse of Jealous Lovers" on DFA, The Rapture have enough of their ownto add to their obvious early-80's influences to make their musicworthwhile. Bolstered by the strength of their DFA dance single, theirfirst album 'Mirror', which was originally released almost two yearsago, has been re-released on the Gravity Records imprint. This firstalbum finds The Rapture trio in a nascent form, producing gloriouslylow-fi noisy shit most closely resembling The Pop Group's 'Y' albumsodomizing an early Cure record. The album opens with the short, darkpiano dirge "in finite clock!" This quickly segues into the sound ofpolice sirens and a wall of scratchy, fuzzy garage noise on"NOTES>>>". The angular guitars and driving beat support thethroat-stripping lyrical screams, with the repeated chorus "I'm takingnotes from the underground..." The next track "OLiO" takes a cue fromearly Cure, with its goth-as-hell bassline and plaintive lyrics.Although I realize that doesn't sound like a recommendation, this is anawesome song. The next couple tracks utilize keyboard effects and drummachine, adding textural elements to The Rapture's spare, grittygoth-punk anti-songs. After another dark, atmospheric piano melody, thelast track is an appropriately hyperactive and chaoticremix/interpolation of "Notes" by Kid606. 'Mirror' is an impressivelynasty slice of raw punk-funk, and I would highly recommend like-mindedfolk waste no time in seeking it out.

samples:

• NOTES>>>
• OLiO
• Kid606 'In Love with the Underground'

The Rapture's new EP, out recently on SubPop, bears little resemblenceto the aggressively dark and abrasively gothic trio that recorded'Mirror'. They have a new bassist, and two years down the line theyhave dropped the Bauhaus posturing and stripped their sound down to aleaner, meaner brand of art punk, influenced by Wire and Gang of Four.Gone are the moody dirges and dark dance anthems. They have beenreplaced with upbeat, politically charged songs with a tight drumming,clipped guitars and repetitive lyrical rants. The songs have gotten abit longer and some contain abrupt tempo changes and otherself-consciously artsy techniques. The production is much cleaner, aswell. The title track opens the EP with its high-strung rhythms andear-splitting guitar. The zealously screamed vocals recall MarkStewart's clipped verses in The Pop Group's first two albums. In"Modern Romance" the vocals are pushed to the background as theear-splittingly non-melodic guitar lines take precedence. "Caravan" isa tense track, with a rhythm section that keeps phasing in and out ofexistence. The only song with anything resembling a melody isappropriately titled "The Pop Song", but the cacophonous andrepetitious refrain of "You're growing older/You're growing older"keeps the song from approaching any kind of mainstream aspirations."Confrontation" closes the disc, with a relentless, distortion-heavybassline and tribal dance rhythms recalling 23 Skidoo. This EP is asgood as 'Mirror' and points to a new direction for the band. I can'twait to hear their upcoming full-length.

samples:

• Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks
• Caravan
• The Pop Song