On their self-titled album, London mob Rifle serve up a raucous, gut-punching reminder of punk’s scrappy roots. With their working class bite, the quintet’s roots lie in the capital’s pub rock scene. Through shows with The Chisel and The Chats, as well as appearances on the European festival circuit, Rifle have been causing chaos all over the place for the best part of four years.
‘Rifle’ proves to be a collection of rebellious, raw, and politically charged songs. Across its 12 tracks, traces of anarcho and oi! punk, along with razor-sharp guitars, rumbling rhythms, and Max’s equally sharp tongue, appear throughout. Moments such as ‘The Flag’ and ‘Protest’ explode with a defiant spirit, whereas ‘Worthless’ amplifies Rifle‘s social underdog position.
As a through-and-through proto-punk band, who are proud of their London roots, it made sense to find out about the bands and artists that have helped shape Rifles‘ chaotic sound. From punk originators to East End Oi! punk to US alternative rock, these are these Rifle’s influences.
Damien Dubrovnik – Europa Dagbog / Europa Diary
Ross: As a kid, I was aware of noise acts like Merzbow and Whitehouse mainly through excessive internet use, but I don’t think it entirely clicked with me until I found Posh Isolation (Danish label) as a teenager. Stylistically and aesthetically, it scratched a lot of itches, was very heady and had a unique take on various genres that was massively appealing to me. This LP is one I come back to regularly.
This Rifle album was the first time we had gone into the studio for longer than a day to record, so we had the chance to experiment more with different sounds and ideas. We called on our mate Luke Younger (who has put out music from this duo) to record some parts for a few tracks on the album. We’re very pleased with the outcome and to have the chance to incorporate this into the record.
The Blood – False Gestures for a Devious Public
Ross: The Blood perfectly merged together a rugged sound with very catchy vocals and choruses. The instrumental performances are insane, and the tunes are perfectly crafted. Tracks like ‘Done Some Braincells Last Night,’ ‘Well Sick’ and ‘Such Fun’ are proper anthems.
The New York Hounds – God Bless The Royal Hounds
Max: For me, this is unquestionably the best album of the last ten years. I was lucky enough to see them play at New River Studios a few years back, and I vividly remember watching the set and realising just how important and special the record really is.
It’s only seven tracks and comes in at just 19 minutes. I think this approach was a huge influence when recording RIFLE; we wanted to follow the same recipe of doing something short and sweet.
It’s probably the only album I never skip a track on, and one I know every word to.
Exit Stance – Ballykelly Disco
Max: It was probably the first proper gig I’d ever been to. Ross took me (once again) to New River, and it was a real sort of eye-opening experience. I remember bumping into Exit Stance vocalist, Sean (Finnis), the venue and pestering him for a lighter, completely unaware of who he was at the time. It wasn’t until later, after seeing just how aggressive their set was, that I clocked the contrast between their onstage intensity and how approachable they were offstage.
They’re also a band from Holloway, which gave us yet another reason to love them.
Ramones – Ramones
Albert: This is perhaps an obvious choice, yet it’s still very influential on me and an album I still listen to regularly.
It has some of the most timeless punk songs on it. Johnny Ramone’s guitar style has definitely massively inspired my playing, and we’ve been known to (badly) cover Ramones songs in the past…
Cock Sparrer – Shock Troops
Albert: Cock Sparrer are one of our favourite bands. We’re often all found shouting along to “we’re coming back” in the tour van. It’s another timeless record for me, catchy as hell and brilliantly written.
Oi! Is one of my favourite punk sub-genres and has definitely greatly influenced the band.
Dinosaur Jr – You’re Living All Over Me
Flynn: It’s an all-time favourite album of mine anyway, but the drum playing from Murph (Patrick Murphy) are absolutely foundational. To me, the pauses, the pushes and the energy is all the hallmarks of drumming that I’ve absolutely applied to my own style. It straddles the line of serving the song perfectly with a few little flashy moments that lift it to different heights. A 10/10 album in all aspects.
Dark Thought – Dark Thoughts
Flynn: This is another album that I just adore. It’s such a perfect package. Every song is a standout in its own rights and it hits its marks all across the board. It’s a huge inspiration for how I played on this (‘Rifle’) album. I am hugely admirable in how it is both fast and frantic, and yet never falters in its execution.
The Stooges – The Stooges
Louis: The Stooges’ self-titled album is undeniably an influential album for me. Everything about the arrangement of these songs is simplistic and straightforward. Keeping everything stripped back and simple was something we found helped our tracks come to together quicker and left room for Max to take the charge on the vocals. Having Iggy Pop play us on his [BBC] 6 Music show was a huge full-circle moment for us.
Public Image Ltd. – Public Image
Louis: My style of playing is very heavy-handed, and I break a lot of strings because of it, especially when trying to replicate Keith Levene. I suppose Levene was my focal point on this album; everything about his playing hits the spot for me, which I hope you can hear in mine.
Tracks like ‘Religion II’ really helped bring the framework ‘Bastards’ and ‘Rifle’ out of my head.
‘Rifle’ by Rifle is released on January 16th on Year0001.
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