Rifle are a punk band from London who just got signed to Year0001, a Swedish label that proudly boasts rising dance-punk sensation Viagra Boys on their roster. To celebrate their signing, Rifle released a brand-new, three-song EP called Pack Mentality on all streaming platforms as well as on Bandcamp.
The EP starts with “Cut Me Loose” which rips in with a classic garage punk sound that almost harkens back to the proto-punk days of the mid-70s. There’s definitely a touch of Iggy Pop in there somewhere. Still, there’s a hard and fast beat and a noisy style to the song that ring of the 2020s as well. Then “Soldier Doll” maintains the same dynamic but adopts a bit of an almost military beat to reflect the lyrical themes, creating a song that is both wildly noisy and somehow disciplined in its rhythm, which is an interesting contradiction.
Finally, the title track closes us out with a sloppily playing fast beat and some really noisy guitars that sound more firmly planted in the modern noise rock genre than anything else. Still, your an feel a little bit of that classic punk style in the rhythm of this song, especially in the end. A riddle of contradictions, Rifle are somehow old and new, classic and fresh at the same time. Check out the EP below.
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Photo courtesy of Rifle
