The Rumble Strips - Girls and Weather

Fallout/Island

The Devon quintet may have taken their sweet time to unleash debut full length ‘Girls And Weather’ but the agonising delay has been more than worth enduring. Since the release of their first single ‘Motorcycle’ back in 2005, hopes have been high and with each successive offering and raucous live outing, expectations mushroomed to the point where they could surely only disappoint. Little did anyone know they had a clutch of classics-in-waiting in reserve.

The Rumble Strips’ spicy mix of Motown sensibilities, soul-inspired theatrics and driving, storytelling rock - evocative of the sprawling 70s masters – makes for the perfect palette from which to paint a rich, textured and glamorised picture of modern day suburban British life. The Clarence Clemons-esque blare of the sax and the steadily ratcheting tension of the band transports you away from the industrial, workaday reality to strange, mythical streets and the realm of the romantics, chasing something in the night. From start to finish there’s a nary a dull moment or disposable idea and the absolute joy squeezed into each track is the perfect antidote to the zeitgeist’s taste for the humdrum and gloomy.

‘Girls And Weather’ is a faultless album, with myriad highlights and is up there with pretty much any ‘classic British debut’ you care to mention from the last 30 years.

Words_David McLaughlin

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Girls And Boys In Love’, ‘Time’, ‘Oh Creole’
FOR FANS OF: Dexys Midnight Runners, The E-Street Band, Adam & The Ants

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