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Track Listings
| 1. No Soul |
| 2. Alarm Clock |
| 3. Building A Boat |
| 4. Girls And Boys In Love |
| 5. Oh Creole |
| 6. Motorcycle |
| 7. Time |
| 8. Clouds |
| 9. Don't Dumb Down |
| 10. Cowboy |
| 11. Hate Me (You Do) |
| 12. Hands |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
They're good clean fun. "I don't like doing things that other folks tell me to do, so I hit him with a hammer, and now he's quite subdued". Well, clean-ish at any rate. The Rumble Strips are a real anomaly in a nation where jeering at talent show rejects is the pastime of choice. Relatively image-free, they carry nostalgia for an England of yore where boys could carry conkers in their coat pockets, sip at shandy on special occasions and be happy with their lot, without crossing over into the realm of novelty. Their reliance on thrifty rhythmic foundations, strong vocals and chipper horn arrangements originally places them somewhere between The Housemartins, Madness and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, whilst also charging through the kind of frantic, ruffled songwriting that Razorlight thrived on before the lure of the arenas stubbed that right out. Charlie Waller is a terrific lead vocalist too, and never short of reams of witty, wholesome lyrics. Girls and Weather creates a world where singing about wishing your bike was a motorcycle ("Motorcycle") and lying on your back staring at the clouds ("Clouds") really is good enough. When hammered out with the kind of eccentric panache familiar to patrons of the Mystery Jets, of course it is. --James Berry
Review
The Rumble Strips were formed from the abandoned original line-up of 50's-rock imitators Vincent Vincent & The Villains. Lead singer Charlie Waller was a villain, in every sense, ditching Vincent Vincent to rejoin his childhood friends in The Rumbles. At first listen to Girls & Weather, however, it's hard to tell why he went through all the hassle.
This is shirts-rolled-up-past-the-bicep rock n' roll and you're half-waiting for Vincent to pop up with his minor-hit "Johnny Two Bands", penned after Waller's departure. That feeling lasts about half a minute, before it becomes clear that The Rumble Strips have something Vincent Vincent never had - variety.
The sax and trumpet parts weaved artfully throughout the record, along with Waller's exceptional vocal, give the songs more dynamism and shifts in mood than should reasonably be expected from three minutes of pop-rock. And while the album may be broadly upbeat, there's a deliciously dark underbelly epitomised by tracks like "No Soul" and "Hate Me (You Do)".
'I don't like doing things / That other folks tell me to do / So I hit him with a hammer / And now he's quite subdued', sings Waller (don't worry, he's talking about his alarm clock).
Yes it's all pretty throw-away, lyrically speaking, but there's a energy that runs through Girls & Weather and it catches that oft-missed balance between saccharine and uplifting. If this doesn't cast at least a flicker of a smile on your face then you are officially dead on the inside.
It's not all top-notch - see the beyond-pointless "Building A Boat" - but when it comes together it's really quite special. "Time", the standout track, is brilliant: three-part harmonies and shifts in pace abound, the brass and rhythm building, building, building.
At a time when the uk music scene is facing up to the latest wave of pissed-off, what-you-looking-at rock bands, it's nice to see that some people are still having fun. --Tom George
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Wall boy
Format:Audio CD
OK let's say it up front - this album owes a lot to Dexy's Midnight Runners BUT it is still a cracking good album. It's a joyful burst of sunshine for the end of a dreadful summer, the singles are great and "don't dumb down" has the makings of a classic. Take a chance on this - you may not be listening to it in 20 years time but you'll be listening to it next summer at max volume while driving down to the coast....especially if the sun decides to shine!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By R. B. Moore
Format:Audio CD
These guys are nosing around the fringes of the top 40, not quite the next big thing but certainly contenders. The sound is guitar pop with brass and the odd bit of pub piano. There are some stand out songs here - catchy tunes, memorable lyrics - and the rest aren't too bad either. Motorcycle is good, Alarm Clock is good, Girls and Boys in love is good. The one about clouds is quite cute too. Yes, there is a debt owed here to Dexy's and the Zutons, and maybe the Cure too, but these aren't bad reference points at all and in general this is a hoorah for Brit indie pop.
And by the way, if you get a chance to see them live, then I'd recommend it. They are full of life and energy, and utterly chaotic. Brilliant.
And by the way, if you get a chance to see them live, then I'd recommend it. They are full of life and energy, and utterly chaotic. Brilliant.
By E. M. Floud
Format:Audio CD
This is a great album and definitely a must buy, shame they don't get as much publicity as some of the stuff out there, a lot of which is a load of ****.
Anyway, if you do one thing on Amazon today, buy this album!
Anyway, if you do one thing on Amazon today, buy this album!
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, pleasing and generally a great album
When I ask my freinds and family if they have heard of "The Rumble Strips" most of them shout "who??" at me. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2008 by H. C. Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars
As good live
Its not often you see a group live supporting a much larger band, and they steal the show. This can be said for the Rumble Strips. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2008 by I. Husselbee
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Dexys!
Got the album for Christmas after loving the Alarm Clock single that 6Music have been playing. If ever there was a great album to blow away those January cobwebs it's this one. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2008 by Stuart Cane
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jangerly Magic
A very upbeat and happy album, 'Girls and boys in love', 'time' and 'clouds' are all very good songs, and there are no duds. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2007 by Mr. Thomas Luesley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disagree about the Dexys comparison
They are far, far better than Dexys. If you listen to the Dexys definitive "Searching For The Young Soul Rebels" you will hear Kevin Rowland sing with his eighties sulky lilt and... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2007 by Mr. Pg Wheeler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loads of soul
I love this band and album, its so full of soul that the track 'No Soul' seems that their taking the mickey out of them selfs. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2007 by Kirkus
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasing album
The full length début album of the Rumble Strips makes for many pleasant afternoons. Whilst many of the songs are not overly different, they contain little eccentricities... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2007 by Mr. G. J. Taylor
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