The Rifles in 2009

The Rifles have had a huge year. They've released their second album, numerous singles, and even a few music videos. Not to mention they've been touring non-stop to bring you their music every which way they can. So in return, please show your support for them... write on their myspace or facebook wall and tell them what they mean to you, or just say 'thanks'. They've worked their butts off for you, so send a little love their way!
We can only hope 2010 brings more of the same!

• http://www.myspace.com/therifles

• http://www.facebook.com/#/therifles?ref=ts

• http://twitter.com/TheRiflesband

Boogaloo gig rescheduled

The Boogaloo gig for the 21st has been rescheduled for this Wednesday, Dec. 23th.

Here's a clip of The Rifles playing a couple new songs...

X-mas Boogaloo Round 2!

The Rifles will be playing at the Boogaloo for the second year in a row! Gig dates are the 14th and 15th [EDIT: and 21st] of December and possibly another date to be added. Get your "Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ding-dong-ding"s ready!
Also:

• 3 'Rifles songs ("Romeo & Julie", "Winter Calls", and "Toe Rag") were used in the series 3 premier of Gavin and Stacey!
• The Rifles song "Science in Violence" was used in a Dew Tour commercial...

• A review of Great Escape from back in November from Chinashopmag.com.
• Read about what it took to make the hand drawn music video for "The Great Escape".
• Remeber last year at the Boogaloo?...

Quick update

A couple vids to mention...

• Acoustic video of Joel and Luke playing "Robin Hood" at They Shoot Music, Don't They.
• The Rifles and "Repeated Offender" were used in an ad for Lee Cooper Jeans.
• Video interview from the instore gig at Merc.
• A newer video inteview at toazted.com.
  

The Adidas House Party

Video from The Rifles free gig at The Adidas House Party...

(If it's not working, try going here: http://www.nme.com/video/bcid/22482685001/search/The%20Rifles )

Live at Taubertal

Hey, it's been awhile....

• Download the full concert from the Taubertal Festival (08/09/2009)!
• Danny Connors and The Ladders won the The Rifles' Battle of the Bands!
• Read the band's American tour blogs from their North American tour Here (scroll down) and you can get a chance to win tickets to see The Rifles here.
• A review of The Rifles visit to The Mercury Lounge.
• A short review of The Rifles from their August in-store Merc gig.
• A September interview with Luke Crowther.

Upcoming gigs:
23rd October – Coronet, London
25th October – Alte Feurwache, Mannheim
26th October – E Werk, Eriangen
27th October – Luxor, Cologne
29th October – Docks, Hamburg
30th October – Werk 2, Lelpzig
31st October – Astra, Berlin
2nd November – Jazzhaus, Frelburg
3rd November – Zapata, Stuttgart
4th November – Schlachtof, Weisbader
6th November – Trix, Antwerp
7th November – Paradiso, Amsterdam
10th November – La Boule Noire, Paris

Science in Violence Live @ Rock im Park

The Rifles are giving you yet another free download, over at the XFM website, this time of "Science in Violence" from their gig at Rock im Park in Germany back on June 5th. Enjoy!!!

Also...

• Less than a week until Great Escape is released in NA.
• First NA review I could find of Great Escape... and they loved it! 8.5/10
  
• NMSC 4!

Live from Kazan, Russia

Here is The Rifles gig at The Creation of Peace Festival in Kazan, Russia from June 27th, 2009!
DOWNLOAD

Thanks to Local_Boy!

Tracklistings
1. She's Got Standards
2. I Could Never Lie
3. Repeated Offender
4. The Great Escape
5. Peace & Quiet
6. Robin Hood
7. The General
8. Local Boy
9. Spend A Lifetime
10. Romeo & Julie
11. When I'm Alone
12. Interview with The Rifles

"Winter Calls" acoustic [UPDATED]

The Sun has an exclusive performance The Rifles song "Winter Calls" HERE!
[UPDATE] It says you can download it, but it only lets you stream it. You can download it HERE.

Live at Taubertal Festival '09

You can download a few tracks from The Rifles live appearance at the Taubertal Festival HERE!

• UKMusic.com interview from '06.
• Video interview from 2008 from Intro.de is over HERE.
• It seems the next single from Great Escape will be "Science in Violence" along with a brand new track!
• A review of "The Great Escape EP" HERE.
• Great Escape will be released in North America on Sept. 15th!
  
• The third edition of "Narrow Minded Social Club" is August 19th!
  

Romeo & Julie (Live)

The Rifles are giving you another free download!...
It's free track giveaway time again! This time we bring you Romeo & Julie live at Rock Im Park. GET IT HERE --->>>> http://bln.kr/1MN

History (acoustic)

The Rifles are offering a free download of an acoustic version of their song "History". Download it here!: http://bln.kr/1G8

The Rifles sign with Nettwerk [UPDATED #2]

• The Rifles have signed with Nettwerk Music Group, though presumably only for North American releases.

• READ about The Great Escape EP, a digital version of The Rifles EP for NA, released on July 28th.
• The Rifles will release Great Escape in NA sometime in September.
• The September 24th and 25th NY gigs will be at Mercury Lounge at 6:30.
• An interview with the boys from Culturedeluxe HERE.
• [UPDATE] - A video featuring The Rifles (about 1:55 in) at Splendor from LeftLion TV... the embed code isn't working, but the video is here: http://www.leftlion.co.uk/video.cfm/id/16
• [UPDATE #2] - From The Rifles twitter account: "Live acoustic set & interview for Maxim. Joel & Luke play 'Out of the Past', 'Robin Hood' & 'The Great Escape' --> http://bit.ly/18GVEt"
  

American tour! [UPDATED]

The Rifles are coming to North America for a tour in September!
22nd - Philadelphia - Kung Fu Neck Tie - 5:25
23rd - Boston - Great Scott - 5:25
24th - NY - Mercury Lounge - 8:00
25th - NY - Mercury Lounge - 8:00
26th - Brooklyn - Union Hall - 8:00
28th - Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern - 8:00

*All times PM.

Great Escape - Japanese import

The Japanese import CD of The Rifles' album Great Escape is out now. You can order from Amazon or eli.com, though there might be other places. The CD is basically a combination of The Rifles EP and Great Escape:
Tracklistings:
1. Science in Violence
2. The Great Escape
3. I Could Never Lie
4. Romeo & Julie
5. Darling Girl
6. History
7. Winter Calls
8. Talking
9. Toerag
10. Fall to Sorrow
11. Sometimes
12. Out in the Past
13. A Love to Die For
14. For the Meantime
15. The General


And don't forget the next Narrow Minded Social Club night on the 22nd of July!

Live from Übel & Gefährlich, 4/4/09

You can watch The Rifles entire gig from Übel & Gefährlich in Hamburg right here. Remember you can also download the audio HERE.
(It takes about a minute or two for The Rifles to get onstage)

ligx.com

The Sun - Biz Session [UPDATED]

The Rilfes played an acoustic session for The Sun, performing 3 songs:
- "Buffalo Stance" (Neneh Cherry cover)
- "History"
- "Science in Violence"
Watch and listen HERE!
[UPDATE] You can now download the session (thanks to commenter!) HERE!

New single and NMSC!

The Rifles will release a new single, "The Great Escape", on June 22, 2009! The B-side will be a new version of 2007 single "Talking"! More information HERE.
The Rifles will also be debuting a new song at the Narrow Minded Social Club on June 17th!! So get out there!!

Live @ Rock im Park

...but it ain't free. The whole gig is €9.95. Or each track is €1.49.
You can download the 9 track set from June 5th in Nurnburg HERE.

A few other things...

• You can buy tickets for the October gigs from The Rifles site, HERE.
• Don't forget the The Rifles new monthly club night; "Narrow Minded Social Club" is starting this Friday!

The Rifles to work on new album

In a myspace update today, The Rifles announced they will be writing new material around gigs in October for a new album!!!

They also plan on starting a real "Narrow Minded Social Club" at Proud Galleries.

Article Interviews and Gig Reviews

Joel and Luke did an interview with Fly53 from May 14, '09...
http://fly53.blogspot.com/2009/05/rifles.html

The Rifles interview for ContactMusic.com from way back in '06...
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/theriflesx05x07x06

A review of The Rifles gig from Bodega Social Club in Nottingham from back in '06...
http://drownedinsound.com/gigs/14097/reviews/690068

A gig review of The Rifles from Chinnerys in Southend from March 17th, 2009...
http://www.music-zine.com/reviews/?id=659

And a review of The Rifles gig from Stylus in Leeds on March 22nd, 2009...
http://www.leedsmusicscene.net/article/10545/

Audio interview from DW-World.DE

The Rifles did an interview for DW-World.de.
CLICK HERE for the audio player. You can even save the interview by clicking the "Save mp3-file".

Radio FSK Hamburg interview

Download an interview with The Rifles done by Radio FSK Hamburg for free here!:
http://www.archive.org/details/SundayServiceSundayServiceInterviwTheRifles

Vote Rifles on MTV-U [UPDATED]

[UPDATE] - The voting is over, and unfortunately "Say it Out Loud" by Liam and Me was the winner.


The Rifles are coming to America and need your help to vote for their video on the MTV-U site!
They're down at the moment, so vote as many times as you can!

US Takeover

Today at 9:21am

Alright everyone??

So we're well rested after what ended up being a rather cultural European Tour - but we're getting itchy feet so are thinking about crossing the Atlantic Ocean and conquering America.

We're gonna release the album, Great Escape, over there in the Summer - and will be announcing our US Tour dates soon..!

You lot can help with the initial stages of the take over by clicking and voting for our video on MTV U. And the useful thing is - you can vote as many times as you like *wink wink*....

Thanks again to everyone who's come to see us over the past few months, you guys never cease to impress us with your enthusiasm, and good looks.

Love,

The Rifles

Midweek Update

• According to this article in "The Sun", the Italian portion of The Rifles' tour was canceled because of a little problem with the Mafia.
• Another blast from the past: An article interview with The Rifles from back in 2005.
• A promo CD of the song "The Great Escape" HERE. Also a "No Love Lost" poster HERE.
• The Rifles have a special summer promo where you can buy the whole "Great Escape" album for just £2!
• The Rifles also announced the summer European festival dates!...

31st May - Pinkpopp Festival, Landgraaf
6th June - Rock Am Ring, Nurbergring
7th June - Rock Am Park, Nuremberg
12th June - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
13th June - Isle Of Wight festival
5th July - Hop Farm Festival, Kent
19th July - Splendour Festival, Nottingham
25th July - Omas Teich Festival, Ostfriesland
7th August - Taubertal Festival, Taubertal

ChannelBee Interview

Continuing our apparent theme of past due interviews, Joel and Luke did an interview for ChannelBee.com (thanks for the link!) in early '09, just before the release of "Great Escape".
Watch the video here:
http://channelbee.com/move/music/music#2053
(30:44... allow time for buffering)
The video includes an acoustic performance of "She's Got Standards" and "The Great Escape".

Interview from '07

This is video of an interview Rob and Grant did from the Lowlands in 2007 for toazted.com...

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Listen to all 4 guys in an audio interview from 2006...
http://www.toazted.com/playinterview/1253/Interview-with-The-Rifles.html

Full gig from Hamburg [UPDATED]

Enjoy The Rifles full gig live from Uebel & Gefaehrlich, Hamburg from April 4th, 2009! ...

• Download here: http://rapidshare.com/files/222541444/The_Rifles-_Live___Uebel___Gefaehrlich__Hamburg_04-04-2009.zip
• Setlist: (Intro), Science in Violence, She's Got Standards, Sometimes, Repeated Offender, Darling Girl, Peace & Quiet, The Great Escape, Out in the Past, History, Hometown Blues, Toe Rag, Spend A Lifetime, Romeo & Julie, Robin Hood, Romeo & Julie (Acoustic), Narrow Minded Social Club, The General, Local Boy.
• Note: Can't take credit for this, found it at: http://u2n2.com/article.asp?id=74684
• [UPDATE]: Here's a torrent of The Rifles instore gig at Hamburg (Although there doesn't seem to be anyone seeding it): http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1876790/775222/

As soon as I get it, I'll upload it here for download...

Live at The Brook video

Video features an interview with Joel and Luke and the live song "Local Boy" in full from The Brook in Southampton...
The Rifles - Romeo & Julie, Interview and Local Boy


And an extra video of an acoustic radio performance of "The Great Escape"...
The Rifles - Great Escape Acoustic

Updates and gig reviews

• The Rifles will be at the Adidas House Party in London today. It'll be just like in that commercial!
• Rob and Grant will be DJing May 9th in Shoreditch. Here's the details:

North South Divide Presents:
Friday Night Noise
@ 333 club
Old Street
London
10 - 3am

£5 before 11.30pm
Featuring guest DJs the RIFLES
The Dirty Disco
Minnaars
Green Man Says Go
Riding Giants
LFC DJs

• Check out this promotional Repeated Offender CD (HERE).
• Check out all the shirts that are now in the t-shirt contest.

The Rifles gig reviews:

• http://www.leedsmusicscene.net/article/10545/
• http://www.themusicfix.co.uk/content/gig-review/5796/the-rifles.html
• http://www.thebeatsurrender.co.uk/weekly/reviews/the-rifles/
• http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2009/03/30/the-rifles-at-carling-academy-2-97319-23263968/

The Rifles website

TheRifles.net has been retooled and the new format is up and running! There's a new "Gallery" section (featuring an alternate cover for "Great Escape" and "Fall to Sorrow"), a news section with a new blog post (Luke's lost another hat), and an audio player loaded to play "Great Escape".

Most of the site is under construction, so the other sections will hopefully be up soon. What do you think of the new site?

Single Release!

The AA-side single of "The General / Romeo & Julie" was released today. You can buy it on CD or 7" vinyl. Once you do, enter "The Rifles Competition!" for a chance to win two tickets for the Isle of Wight festival, which also allows you to meet the band!

Tour Blogs and Radio Interview

Tour Blogs:
The Rifles are still out and about touring but they're chronicling their daily misadventures on their MySpace blog. So if you want to hear about the non-musical side of the band, like Joel getting lost in a museum or Rob and Grant ducking out down a ladder during a gig, this is definitely for you! So far Luke, Rob, and Grant have taken turns writing the entries, which include exclusive photos of their tour.

Radio Interview:
Joel and Luke did an interview with BFBS Radio which you can see here. Part 1 includes an acoustic performance of "The Great Escape", Part 2 features "Peace & Quiet"...

Absolute Radio Session

The Rifles were at Absolute Radio doing an interview (in the "Zoo") as well as playing two songs, "The Great Escape" and "For the Meantime". Check out the video HERE! (poor Grant's on tambourine)...

They mentioned the t-shirt contest in the interview... and they haven't been blown away so far, so you still have a chance! Get your designs in!

The Rifles on Twitter

The Rifles now have their own Twitter page, so just follow them under the name theriflesband. They also have a twitter widget on their myspace page now, so you can always follow them there as well.

• Here is a review of The Rifles live gig at Chinnerys.
• Here is a myspace review of The Rifles gig at Roundhouse. (He described Rob's new glasses as the "Harry Potter look").

It's The Brook in Southampton tonight (Sold Out) and Waterfront in Norwich tomorrow!

Single Delay

The Rifles announced the release date of their double a-side single The General / Romeo & Julie is being pushed back from today to April 13th.

Friday Update: Videos!

A few items to share...

• The Rifles would like you to upload your fan photos to THIS flickr account.
• Bex Holmes was the winner of the £100 bar tab for the Roundhouse gig. Congrats!
• Speaking of the Roundhouse, The Rifles added a new folder of photos from the gig to their myspace.
• Keep the t-shirt designs coming!

On to the videos!...

Interview Intro...(0:19)


The Rifles being interviewed by PowerfulPeanuts.com (9:48)...


The Rifles rehearsing "Buffalo Stance" backstage (2:34)...


The Rifles perform a cover of Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance". Dean Mumford with the vocals. (2:32)...


From Camden's Roundhouse...

The Rifles start with "Science in Violence" (4:18)...


The Rifles performing "History" (rockin ending to this)... (4:43)...


The Rifles playing "Darling Girl" (4:35)...


Winston's Zen's channel collected some songs from the Roundhouse, including this one: "Sometimes" (2:59)...


From The Sheffield Leadmill...

The Rifles performing "Winter Calls" (2:59)...


And a fan video of The Rifles playing "The General" (2:15)...

T-Shirt Contest

The Rifles t-shirt contest opened it's Flickr account for entries a couple days ago. Here's a few of the designs so far...

More single news

Just some information here from the BanquetRecords.com page (who had the "Fall to Sorrow" single details before anyone else) ...

The 7" double A-side single of "The General" (a) and "Romeo and Julie" (b) will be released on March 23rd and cost £1.99.
Cat no: TRV002
Label: 679 Recordings

You can preorder it on that page as well.

RiflesTV

The Rifles have created their own official YouTube channel, RiflesTV. You can watch all of The Rifles official videos there ( some are just moved over from oliboat's channel, which was their former channel). If you're looking for the band's music videos, you can find them all between these channels...

• RiflesTV
• oliboat
• TheRifles
• 679Recordings
  

Interview with FaceCulture

Joel and Luke did a video interview with FaceCulture.com, clarifying their alleged album title references to Joy Division and Blur, explaining their new direction, fans, the media, and much more.
These interviews are definitely worth a watch. The embed code wasn't working, so here are the links...
The Rifles Interview part 1
The Rifles Interview part 2
The Rifles Interview part 3
The Rifles Interview part 4
The Rifles performing "The Great Escape"
And the final cut of the interview, edited down to fit with "The General" music video.

Win 3 tickets for The Rifles!

More contests!
Click HERE to go to the Clash Music site and enter for your chance to win 3 tickets to a Rifles gig as well as signed albums by the band! The tickets can be used at any one of the following venues...

14th Sheffield Leadmill
16th Oxford Academy
17th Southend Chinnerys
18th London Roundhouse
21st Hitchin Remix
22nd Leeds Stylus
23rd Northampton Roadmender
25th Southampton The Brook
26th Norwich Waterfront
27th Birmingham Academy
29th Glasgow The Garage
30th Nottingham Rescue Rooms
31st Manchester The Ritz

There's just one catch: You'll have to answer a trivia question. Here it is...
"Complete the name of The Rifles single: 'The Great....' :
A) Escape
B) Swindle
C) Wall of China
"
Let's just hope you don't get that one wrong...

Design a Rifles T-shirt!

From The Rifles blog:

"WIN £100 for designing a t-shirt for The Rifles!

People - it's time to get creative.

We're running a competition where you have the chance to have a design of your very own made into a t-shirt which will be sold as part of The Rifles merchandise.

The competition is open for submissions on March 13th for one month.

All you need to do is include The Rifles logo (below) and whatever else you see fit, then upload to The Rifles Flickr account which can be found HERE

You can be as inventive or as minimalist as you like...

The person who designs the t-shirt which is chosen for the final artwork will also win £100..!

We look forward to seeing all your designs - and thanks in advance to everyone who gets involved. "

New single cover?

This could be the cover for the new single. Taken from The Rifles myspace...
And a few more options...

The Rifles to DJ at This Feeling

Grant and Rob get out this time to This Feeling in Manchester at Moho tomorrow night. (Doors open at 8pm)
Tickets are 6 pounds in advance (click here to purchase), or 7 pounds at the door.



ALSO: Here is a link (thanks to commenter!) to the Fopp instore gig from January 28th, featuring 6 live performances and an interview ( revealing the band's true football allegiances! )

Single News

"The General / Romeo and Julie" double A-side single will be released March 23rd!!!

The General - Music Video! [UPDATED]

Album Reviews and More...

• TheRifles.co.uk is back up! You can purchase their 2 albums and select singles there!
  
• An interview with Joel from Winston's Zen HERE. It features a free MP3 download of "Science in Violence". You can also e-mail them for a chance to win 1 of 3 copies of "Great Escape"!
• Read a different interview with Joel from eGigs.co.uk HERE.
• "Great Escape" dropped to 62 on the charts.
  

ALBUM REVIEWS:

• Rolling Stone: 3 out of 5.
  
• Maxim: 4 out of 5. (Review features video of The Rifles. You can also enter for a chance to win 1 of 5 copies of "Great Escape"!)
• Strangeglue: 5 out of 10.
• Virgin Music: 8 out of 10.
  
• Metacritic: 61 out of 100

A nifty valentines video, set to "Romeo and Julie"...

The Rifles at Banquet playing "The Great Escape"...

The Rifles at Banquet playing "She's Got Standards"...

Thursday Update

• The Sound Knowledge instore gig has been canceled due to bad weather. That's the second canceled gig!
• You can listen to the full version of "The Great Escape (Strings and Vocals Version)" HERE for free! AND the site also has The Rifles EP and several other singles up as well!
• According to the Wikipedia entry, "Great Escape" was #2 on the UK Indie Charts!
• Listen to a different preview of "Lazy Bones (Konk Version)" HERE!

• The Rifles at Banquet performing "The General" (sound not the best)...

• The Rifles at Banquet performing "Local Boy"...

Monday news...

• The Rifles canceled their February 3rd Rapture instore gig because of bad weather.

• "Great Escape" entered the charts at #27!

• Luke and Joel in a fun interview (about 1:07 in)...

• The Rifles at Banquet, performing "Toerag"...

• The Rifles at Banquet, performing "Romeo and Julie"...

The Rifles on Q Radio

If you missed The Rifles playing DJ at Q Radio earlier, I've got a list of songs the three chose to play.
Replay is on Tuesday from 9pm - 11pm, or listen to the 2 hour show at www.QtheMusic.com
(They also mentioned a double a-side with Romeo and Julie and The General!!!)

Intro - Romeo and Julie

Joel:

• Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 (That's My Number)
• The Moody Blues - Go Now
• Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World (Live acoustic version)
• Del Shannon - Runaway
• Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning
• Martha and the Vandellas - Jimmy Mac
• The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Vocals version)
• The Kinks - Autumn Almanac
• The Doors - The Soft Parade

Grant:

• The Strokes - Someday
• Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
• Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
• Blur - The Universal
• The Clash - Lost in the Supermarket
• Nirvana - Oh, Me (Meat Puppets cover)
• Queens of the Stoneage - 3's & 7's
• Beck - Nobody's Fault But My Own
• Kings of Leon - King of the Rodeo
• David Bowie - Modern Love

Rob:

• The Young Knives - Here Comes the Rumour Mill
• Editors - Munich
• Bjork - Army of Me
• MGMT - Time to Pretend
• Apartment - Fall into Place
• Radiohead - Karma Police
• The Who - Love Ain't for Keeping
• Neil Young - Heart of Gold
• The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me

Closing - The General

Friday Update

• The next stop after today on The Rifles instore tour will be at the Rapture in Oxfordshire on February 3rd (5:30pm)
• The Rifles are taking over Q Radio! This Saturday (tomorrow!!) at 6pm - 8pm the boys will be playing THEIR favorite music! Replay is Tuesday 9pm -11pm, but they'll have it online for a week at www.QtheMusic.com
• A fan video of The Rifles instore at Rough Trade East playing Local Boy from Thursday...

• And the same guys filmed Romeo and Julie as well...

Thursday Update

A few Rifles items to share...

• Listen to a preview of "Lazy Bones (Konk Version)" right here!
  

• The Rifles next stop on their instore tours will be at Banquet tomorrow at 6pm.
• Leave a comment on The Rifles' blog for your chance to win a £100 bar tab for one of the tour dates in March!
• The Rifles instore at HMV, preforming "The General"...

• Joel and Luke talking about their upcoming album...

• The Rifles in an awkward interview with Phil Clifton from XFM...

Full Tour Dates

Today The Rifles announced a tour of Europe in April. Here's the full listing of tours:

January
Jan 27th – HMV, Glasgow - Lewis' Building (6.00pm)
Jan 28th - Fopps, Covent Garden (6.00pm)
Jan 29th - Rough Trade East (7.00pm)
Jan 30th – Banquet, Kingston (6.00pm)
February
Feb - 3rd – Rapture, Witney in Oxfordshire (5.30pm)
Feb - 4th – Resident, Brighton (6.00pm)
Feb - 5th – Sound Knowledge, Wiltshire (6.30pm)
Feb - 6th – Fives, Leigh On sea (6.00pm)
March
18th London - Roundhouse
(19th at Roundhouse again (?))
21st Hitchin - Remix
23rd Northampton - Roadmender
25th Southampton - The Brook
26th Norwich - Waterfront
27th Birmingham Academy
29th Glasgow - The Garage
30th Nottingham - Rescue Rooms
31st Manchester - The Ritz
April
3rd - Lido - Berlin
4th - Knust - Hamburg
6th -Gleis 22 - Munster
7th - Botanique / Rotonde - Brussels
8th Melkweg - Amsterdam
9th - Mezz - Breda
11th - Beatpol - Dresden
13th - Backstage - Munich
14th - Batschkapp - Frankfurt
15th - Weekender Club - Innsbruck
16th - Abart - Zurich
18th - Luxor - Cologne

Your "Great Escape" is here!

"We all want our escape from something, I think." - Luke Crowther

After years of waiting, The Rifles second album "Great Escape" is out in stores today!!!



Go and get your copy today! I heard there's even a bonus track for ya! (Only on iTunes)

Great Escape tracklistings:
1. Science in Violence
2. The Great Escape
3. Fall to Sorrow
4. Sometimes
5. Toerag
6. History
7. Winter Calls
8. Out in the Past
9. Romeo and Julie
10. The General
11. For the Meantime

Quick Update [UPDATE #3]

• Head on over to The Rifles myspace page to listen to 5 tracks from the new album now! (Toerag, The General, For the Meantime, Sometimes, Romeo and Julie)

• The Rifles are having a party with some friends next thursday and are selecting a few fans to invite. Just comment on the blog and they could pick you.
• Just a few more days until the their second album "Great Escape" (Not "The Great Escape", like I had been writing). The Rifles recommended three places to purchase the album: iTunes, Play.com, and HMV.
• If you didn't get your Rifles fix for today, enjoy the band's "Red Stripe: Bring it On Back" free gig series, Live from Shunt Vaults in London, Jan. 22nd, 2007. (4 Live Tracks: She's Got Standards, Peace & Quiet, Repeated Offender, Local Boy, PLUS interviews!) Special Thanks to Nsrifle!

[UPDATE]

• Oops! Almost forgot: Catch The Rifles on Soccer Am tomorrow morning!!!

[UPDATE #2]
Here's the link to the Soccer AM video from yesterday...
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid958992159?bctid=8901701001

[UPDATE #3]
Found a clip of The Rifles on Soccer AM in need of some target practice...

Album leak: The culprit?

The one responsible for leaking the The Rifles new album may just be this guy named Jason, possibly a rep at a music company in Japan, as one of our posters pointed out.
The "Rip Date" suggests he was the one who ripped it from a promo copy.

Video Special! Music Videos and more! [UPDATE]

All The Rifles music videos are available to download.
All the videos below are taken from youtube, so the quality is not great, however the Mercury Lounge videos are in higher resolution.

Music Videos:

• Peace & Quiet (1)
• Peace & Quiet (2)
• Local Boy
• She's Got Standards
• Repeated Offender
• Talking
• The Great Escape
  

The Mercury Lounge, NYC, 19/09/08.

• Talking
• The Great Escape
• Local Boy
• Out in the Past
• Robin Hood
• Peace & Quiet
• Romeo and Julie
• Toerag

[UPDATE]
The Nokia Theater, NY, 10/09/08.

• She's Got Standards
• Robin Hood
• Out in the Past
• Local Boy
  

Only Fools and... Rifles?

Why do only fools and Rifles work?
With The Rifles doing a great deal of promotional tours and gigs, it'll be hard to keep track of them. But if you're a member of Facebook, you should have gotten an update of all the band's gigs. They've even created a group for each gig, so join the groups for the shows you'll be attending.


Here is a hilarious video from Soccer AM starring The Rifles and their new manager!
barry and the rifles/trotters

The Bootlegs: Part 3

While you're enjoying the new single today, you can listen to 2 more live shows! With thanks again to the provider of the links who assembled them all together for you!

• Club 3Voor12 in Holland, 2007. (5 Live Tracks: Peace & Quiet, She's the Only One, She's Got Standards, Robin Hood, Local Boy)

• The Lowlands in Holland, 2007. (14 Live Tracks: Talking, She's Got Standards, One Night Stand, She's the Only One, Spend A Lifetime, Toerag, Peace & Quiet, Robin Hood, Winter Calls, Repeated Offender, Narrow Minded Social Club, Hometown Blues, When I'm Alone, Local Boy)

The Lowlands show has a longer version of "Toerag" with more lyrics, so definitely check that out.

Fall to Sorrow and tours!

"Fall to Sorrow", The Rifles first single from their new album is out today!
7":
A. Fall To Sorrow
B. Lazy Bones (Konk Version)

CD:
1. Fall To Sorrow
2. The Great Escape (Strings and Vocals Version)


The group have also announced more tour dates.

Jan 26th – HMV, Manchester - 90 Market Street (6.00pm)
Jan 27th – HMV, Glasgow - Lewis' Building (6.00pm)
Jan 28th - Fopps, Covent Garden (6.00pm)
Jan 29th - Rough Trade East (7.00pm)
Jan 30th – Banquet, Kingston (6.00pm)
Feb - 3rd – Rapture, Witney in Oxfordshire (5.30pm)
Feb - 4th – Resident, Brighton (6.00pm)
Feb - 5th – Sound Knowledge, Wiltshire (6.30pm)
Feb - 6th – Fives, Leigh On sea (6.00pm)

Quick Update

Just a few things to share...

• The live song "Same Mistakes" is from the London Calling gig (below), which has a better version than the one previously uploaded, so if you'd like that individual track, you can download it here.
• I found this site while doing a search. It has entire concerts The Rifles did! Including 3Voor12 and the Lowlands. Maybe soon I'll get those up here as well...
• The Rifles have a contest on their myspace page for 5 free tickets to a gig on their next tour, so if you've already bought the single, you can sign up.
• The only other live song I have is from The Sugarmill in Stoke. The quality is not good, but still worth a listen. The song is Hometown Blues (Live).
• FALL TO SORROW OUT TOMORROW!
  

The Bootlegs: Part 2

The quality of these are simply amazing.
(And if anyone has any more gigs, please post them!)

Audio:

1. BBC 6Music broadcast, 2006. (4 Live Tracks: Narrow Minded Social Club, Local Boy, Rat Race, Fat Cat)
   
2. The Rifles at Lido in Berlin, Germany, 2006. (9 Live Tracks: No Love Lost, Repeated Offender, One Night Stand, She's the Only One, Fat Cat, Robin Hood, Peace & Quiet, Hometown Blues, When I'm Alone)
   
3. The Rifles at London Calling, 2006. (12 Live Tracks: Repeated Offender, One Night Stand, Hometown Blues, She's the Only One, Peace & Quiet, Same Mistakes, Fat Cat, Robin Hood, She's Got Standards, No Love Lost, When I'm Alone, Local Boy)
4. The Rifles at Karlstorbahnhof in Heidelberg, Germany, 2006. (14 Live Tracks: Repeated Offender, One Night Stand, Hometown Blues, She's the Only One, Peace & Quiet, Fat Cat, Spend A Lifetime, Robin Hood, She's Got Standards, No Love Lost, When I'm Alone, Narrow Minded Social Club, Holiday in the Sun, Local Boy)
5. The Rifles at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh, Scotland, 2006. (13 Live Tracks: Repeated Offender, One Night Stand, Hometown Blues, She's the Only One, Peace & Quiet, Fat Cat, Spend A Lifetime, She's Got Standards, No Love Lost, When I'm Alone, Narrow Minded Social Club, Robin Hood, Local Boy)
   

The Bootlegs: Part 1

It's your lucky day.
Thanks to a gracious donation of links (and time), we have a plethora of downloadable Rifles material for you, so give thanks and check it out...

VIDEO:

1. The Rifles - Romeo & Julie
2. When I'm Alone Soundcheck - Liverpool Arena
3. The Rifles - Toerag Live
4. Talking featuring Paul Weller (June 26th, '08)
5. The Rifles at Boogaloo - Runaway
6. The Rifles at Boogaloo - Rock the Boat
7. The Rifles at Boogaloo - Robin Hood
8. Repeated Offender - from Hull
9. The Rifles - The Great Escape (Acoustic session)
   
10. She's Got Standards - Live at Keele
11. The Rifles - The Great Escape (Music Video)
    
12. She's the Only One - Live from Astoria
13. She's Got Standards - Live from Astoria
14. Repeated Offender - Live from Astoria
15. Peace & Quiet (Music Video 1)
    
16. The Rifles - Fat Cat - Live from Astoria
    
17. The Rifles - Local Boy - Astoria Encore
18. Paul Weller and The Rifles - That's Entertainment
    

Coming Soon: Fall to Sorrow [UPDATED]

[UPDATE]: By the way, The Rifles Fan Blog now shows up on Google! (Sometimes on the second page, but hey, I'm not complaining!)

It's a bit slow in terms of news today, but as a reminder... It's just a few more days now until The Rifles' first single from the new album is released! You can purchase the 7" and CD here, but as a refresher, here are the track listings...

7":
A. Fall To Sorrow
B. Lazy Bones (Konk Version)

CD:
1. Fall To Sorrow
2. The Great Escape (Strings and Vocals Version)

The Bootlegs: Same Mistakes

[[UPDATE]] Here is a better version of "Same Mistakes", performed live at London Calling. http://rapidshare.com/files/185674171/06_Same_Mistakes.mp3
[[End UPDATE]]

Same Mistakes: http://rapidshare.com/files/183464885/Same_Mistakes.mp3
This is the audio of an unreleased Rifles song performed live at one of their shows. A great song but with no actual title, I've just called it "Same Mistakes" because of the chorus. I've also done my best with the lyrics here:

The morning's waiting for me
but it finds me sleepin'
all folded up and alone
like the odysseys of Rome

In the art of no control
when the evening creeps in
that's when the sweat starts to pour and all things
bound to get unstuck

And the banging in my head that aches
makes my fingers start to shake
but then I'm brought back home again

One day to another day
wasn't looking for the change but a change come anyway
unstuck like a sitting duck
if it wasn't for the love then I wouldn't make the same mistakes

And now it's so hard to place
the events last evening
one hundred pounds worth of ?----?
and a two stone weight in change
that will always indicate
difficulty breathing
and paranoia floats around and all that's
bound to get unstuck

And I've underslept again
cause it took two hours to take a walk
?with a temper anyway?

One day to another day
wasn't looking for a change but change come anyway
unstuck like sitting duck
if it wasn't for the love, I wouldn't make the same mistakes

And it's so hard to say that I love ya
when ?I found out her problems are not mine?
and I said that I need you
All the things I wouldn't do

And I've underslept again
cause it took two hours to take a walk
?with a temper anyway?

One day to another day
wasn't looking for a change but change come anyway
unstuck like sitting duck
if it wasn't for the love, I wouldn't make the same mistakes

(Please help with the lyrics if you know any)