The cover image on Talking Heads’ More Songs About Buildings And Food portrays the band in a quirky cut-and-paste style, somehow disjointed – in the image but not of it, a workable metaphor for their being part of the New York scene, but also distinctly separate.
A not dissimilar photo features on the inner sleeve of this album. Just as Mr Byrne and his troupe differed from the other bands that frequented CBGBs, The Rapture have carved a different path to Mr Casablancas and his ilk. And what a breath of fresh air that is.
It seems like an aeon since 2003’s breakthrough DFA-produced Echoes and its anthemic ‘House Of Jealous Lovers’ (dubbed the ‘Blue Monday’ of its day), so what can we expect from its follow-up? None of the angst evident on its darker predecessor, for starters. Summery disco beats, sunny harmonies and synth-sational floor-filling numbers are the order of the day.
Pieces... is the sound of a band that want to kick back and shake their booty, and they demand you do the same. On ‘Whoo! Alright Yeah…Uh Huh’ (take that for a song title) Jenner claims, “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.”
The lead single, the irrepressibly catchy ‘Get Myself Into It’, with its scratchy guitar and playful sax, nestles comfortably alongside the part Cure/part Chemical Brothers concoction that is ‘The Sound’ and the psychedelic finale of ‘Live In Sunshine’.
This lean, no-filler long-player is the work of a band that have evolved into a cohesive tune machine, sprinkled with magic dust courtesy of producers Danger Mouse (Gorillaz/Gnarls Barkley), Paul Epworth (Bloc Party) and Ewan Pearson. The result? A perfect pop/punk/funk/new wave/disco confection.
Key album lyric: “I used to think life’s a bitter pill, but it’s a grand old time”. Indeed.