There’s nothing technically or rhythmically wrong with The Rapture, yet the most innovative thing about them is percussionist/saxophonist/keyboardist Gabriel Andruzzi and his box-step dance moves. Because, at the risk of sounding harsh, although The Rapture have a ‘unique’ sound which they lovingly call ‘disco punk’, all their songs sound the same (the exception to this of course being ‘House of Jealous Lovers’, a song that we all know they’ll never outshine, no matter how hard they try).

Saying that, they clearly enjoy being on stage, and treat their live gigs as a chance to show just how hard they can party. The audience are a lot more enthused and receptive to the band’s performance than I would ever have expected, which in itself precipitates a festive atmosphere.

Songs from the band’s latest offering Pieces of the People we Love, including the sexy ‘Get Myself Into It’ and the rambunctious ‘Woo! Allright - Yeah…Uh Huh’ are particularly well received. It is perhaps these singles that have most aligned The Rapture with the so-called ‘New Rave’ movement, although I suspect the band perceive the advent of this trend in dance music in correspondence with their ‘comeback’ as pure coincidence, not least the music press’ superficial attempt to manufacture scenes.

The boys give in to their signature song only halfway through the set, but their rendition of ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ is met with rapture indeed. Unfortunately, for me this was the highlight of their show, although hats off to them for fighting against the inevitable ‘one hit wonder’ label that one would expect to haunt The Rapture forever.

www.therapturemusic.com

www.myspace.com/therapture
 

Laura Coffey