South Coast Entertainment The Rumble Strips Review

The intimate setting of the Joiners in Southampton, which has paraded the likes of Oasis, Coldplay and the Manic Street Preachers to name a few, was the next location to which The Rumble Strips turned their attention to parade their spiky, ska like pop indie music. With support from Echo Chamber the public filed through the doors and got their drinks in early.

Echo Chamber, the 4 piece from Southampton kicked off preceedings with their upbeat indie pop. The sound harked back to a more straight cut Specials with a tinge of modern day indie precision and also a tinge of old punchy Green Day tracks. Songs including The Hounded, Little Steal and Miss Liz crop up in the set and flow well together making sure no-one wanders off for a crafty cig or beer. The band also come across as being very well prepared and gifted as a unit as they saunter through the tracks lapping up the adoration. The crowd seemed genuinely impressed by the group and the Joiners may have tapped into another band that is heading for greater things.

Come ten o'clock though and the crowd are more or less gagging for The Rumble Strips. The punchy quick-fire indie has seen them reach to a generous audience already without being on the tip of everyones tongues. However, with the announcement a while ago of studio time being spent with one Mark Ronson, the new album brings with it even more promise. Having had Lily Allen and The Kaiser Chiefs grace his studio, The Rumble Strips must have been licking their lips at the prospect of gaining more wide spread recognition.

The fresh faced 5 piece from Devon bounce onstage initially to a quiet audience. But once the first beat and the first line is sung, the crowd perk up and get jigging. If nothing else, this band will have you smiling cheek to cheek with their sound. The addition of trumpets and a saxaphone makes the music much more rounded than most other current acts and will hope to cause shockwaves in the mainstream music market.

You're never going to get a lengthy ten minute soaring anthem from The Rumble Strips. Think the Futureheads speed of song, blink and you miss it. But in a time of 'i want it now' what better music to listen to? Energetic and amusing in equal amounts The Rumble Strips run through tracks including Douglas, Motorcycle, Running... and Hands which entertain and make everyone smile. The band are particularly 'tight' and the sound is excellent in the Joiners as the set dissapears in no time at all. The talking to and fro between the confident and loveable Charlie (think Johnny Depp in Cry Baby) and the audience helps the feel good spirit. Charlie possesses one of the best voices in the industry currently, the clear and concise notes reaching everyones ears as clear as a buffed recording. If one thing can be noticed prior to the album Welcome To The Walk Alone being released, it is that the new songs are sounding more epic and grown up than previous release Girls and Weather. If this is a concerted effort by the boys or a tweaking of their sound by Mark Ronson who knows, but time will tell if more success can be acheived.

The evening comes to a close initially with the band appearing to leave after the track Girl and Boys in Love, as used in the film Run Fat Boy Run. However, instead of attempting to wade through the Joiners audience just yet, the band relocate back on stage and complete the evening with a three track encore with the fans singing their hearts out. The night sky in Southampton gleams with as much delight as the public as the Joiners audience wander back home to a well earnt rest after seeing maybe the band of the year.