The Rifles

The Rifles（步槍）是英國(guó)的另類獨(dú)立搖滾樂隊(duì)，2004年建立于英國(guó)倫敦。
最早，The Rifles因英國(guó)一檔電視節(jié)目《Soccer am》而打響名頭，首發(fā)單曲《Local Boy》獲得滿堂彩，樂隊(duì)亦借由此等勢(shì)頭在2006年7月發(fā)表處女碟《No Love Lost》——該專輯名稱取自Joy Division(聽歌) 1978年首張EP《An Ideal for Living》當(dāng)中的一首歌，為的是向這首單曲致敬——并在其后參加了幾個(gè)大型音樂節(jié)又進(jìn)行了巡演，在巡演結(jié)束后，樂隊(duì)即刻籌備起第二張錄音室專輯，在2008年全數(shù)創(chuàng)作和錄制完畢，原本10月13日為發(fā)行時(shí)間的這張二年級(jí)作品《The Great Escape》，推遲到了2009年初才被放上唱片架。
 
The Rifles在《The Great Escape》當(dāng)中的表現(xiàn)相對(duì)于第一張專輯顯得更為大膽，但絕對(duì)不放肆，樂隊(duì)的四名成員能夠聰明地看到自己擅長(zhǎng)哪些方面（比如復(fù)古吉他riff段落、偏向流行的曲調(diào)以及精力充沛的演唱方式），并將這些有點(diǎn)在這張專輯里得當(dāng)?shù)匕l(fā)揮，而對(duì)于不是非常拿手但又可以稍稍把玩的技巧（比如新浪潮跳舞節(jié)拍、合成器音色、類似于搞怪的吉他扭曲噪音），四個(gè)大男孩則只是在某些曲目中淺嘗輒止，并不進(jìn)行過分的玩弄。整張專輯呈現(xiàn)出一派清爽與輕松，令人非常興奮地要去點(diǎn)擊播放器上的重復(fù)鍵。The Rifles不是那種處女專輯即大紅大紫的英倫獨(dú)立樂隊(duì)，也正因?yàn)槿绱?，他們的這張二年級(jí)專輯做起來才沒有太大的壓力，而是可以很輕松地將他們?cè)谑讖垖］嫯?dāng)中為人所稱贊的特點(diǎn)在《The Great Escape》當(dāng)中放寬。這張《The Great Escape》的某些曲目像極了Kaiser Chiefs(聽歌)在2007年發(fā)行的旋律極其流行的專輯《Yours Truly, Angry Mob》，但與Kaiser Chiefs的區(qū)別則在于The Rifles主唱Joel Stoker的聲音更具親和力，更符合現(xiàn)當(dāng)代年輕人的審美標(biāo)準(zhǔn)?？傊@支有著兇煞名字（樂隊(duì)名意為“來福槍”）的樂隊(duì)，在09年初打出的這一槍，可謂是在上一年略顯沉悶的英倫搖滾圈上空打響了。
Joel Stoker (vocals), Lucas Crowther (guitar), Rob Pyne (bass), and Grant Marsh (drums) create the jaunty garage rock sound of the Rifles. With their Jam-like swagger and matched playfulness to the Kooks, the Rifles came together in London in 2003. They made their performance debut a year later and praise from NME and BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe quickly championed the Rifles' boyish rock & roll fun. Their debut "When I'm Alone" arrived in May 2005 and did moderately well among their growing fan base, however "Local Boy" gave the Rifles their first U.K. Top 40 hit that fall. Other chart hits such as the Strokes-like "Repeat Offender" and "She's Got Standards" added to the band's heightened popularity in 2006. Produced by Ian Broudie (the Coral, the Subways, I Am Kloot), No Love Lost marked the Rifles' debut full-length in July. Additional U.K. club shows and appearances at the annual V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire followed in August.