A few years ago, The Rapture caused a stir in indie hearts with the release of album Echoes. Teaming guitar lightning bolts with groove and tight rhythm, they have since been hailed as “new rave pioneers” (NME) and credited by some as the originators of the indie/dance style mash-up (I seem to recall The Stone Roses’ Fool’s Gold came out a good few years earlier, during the rave era of the 1990s, not to mention many other bands who experimented with such sounds earlier…) But forget the pointless pigeonholing – The Rapture are back with a mighty fine album, Pieces of the People We Love.

Overflowing with a higher ratio of electro warps and bass juggernauts designed to murder your subwoofers than ‘Echoes’, this album is ripe with potential singles. Second taster ‘W.A.Y.U.H. (People Don’t Dance No More)’ is (or should be) a surefire Christmas party hit. The bass and drums will get your feet moving whether you like it or not, with a fabulously simple hook that got stuck in my head after a couple of listens. The semi-rapped vocals are reminiscent of Beck’s finer moments, while laydees whoop it up in the background (yep, this is a party song). Just when you’re contemplating how good this song is, the best bit kicks in, coupled with that aforementioned hook:

People don’t dance no more/they just stand there like this:/They cross their arms
And stare you down and drink and moan and diss.

Po-faced fashionistas types won’t stand a chance against this track – and don’t The Rapture just know it.
(4½/5)