“Rude Boy”
from the album In My Head It Works
2009
iTunes
It’s something of a challenge to conjure up a more mind-numbingly dull combination of band name and song title than “Rude Boy” by The Race. If you hadn’t heard them before, it might scream half-hearted chancers trotting through some uninspired ska-lite pop wiv attitood in a half-spoken Jamie T accent. But hey, so much for preconceptions
In actual fact the band are a cut above all that and come from a direction more akin to Editors, Interpol, and White Lies. Indeed “Rude Boy” has an overriding feel of the Bunnymen until its thundering crescendo. Floor tom-heavy with a rolling bass, the guitars are alternatively choppy then floating on a Chameleons-like tide of echoing, chiming, glassy effects.
Now on to their second album In My Head It Works (debut Be Your Alibi was released in 2006), the band have a refreshingly realistic approach to the music business and grounded approach to songwriting: Frontman Dan Buchanan says: “We have a little more experience and perspective on life in general and a clearer idea of who we are as a band … we’re not trying to please everyone. I work in a hospital and it’s a huge source of inspiration to me. Playing in front of crowds who love your music is ultimately a little pointless if there’s nothing else to you.”
Their down-to-earth attitude has also extended to the band’s finances. Label Shifty Disco set up a stakeholder fund and fans were asked to buy into the thousand stakes at £25 a go, in exchange for a share of the returns. Perhaps the future for an industry in difficulty?