Album review: The Rifles – “Love Your Neighbour” — When The Horn Blows

The Rifles’ long-awaited return exudes nostalgia and maturity, showing why this band is a respected veteran of the industry.

The album kicks off with the first single from the record “The Kids Won’t Stop” and it’s the perfect opener as it in some ways sums up the whole record, not just lyrically but also in the energy it delivers. It’s a track that wouldn’t sound out of place on any Rifles album and the opening line “life used to be easy, we had time to dream and time to dare” feels like a nostalgic statement about where the band are and where they’ve been. The band have also said that it’s a song about the constant busyness of life itself. Both this song and the album itself reflect a world of constant engagement with social media and the ideologies of a perfect world that sites like Instagram create and the pressures this puts on all generations.

Frontman Joel Stoker also said: “‘Love Your Neighbour’ says that we’re all in this big mess together and it would be good to get along a bit more and enjoy it. Talk to people more, help each other out when you can, say good morning and maybe take your head off your phone for five minutes and appreciate the people next to you. I’d like to think that the record captures the everyday situations in life that we all face in three-minute pieces that you can sing along to.”

This hope for positivity can be heard in every track. It’s especially evident in the track ‘All Aboard’. The Rifles have always had the ability to deliver catchy tunes that grab you from the first lyric, combining upbeat instrumentals with sadder, heavier themes, and this track really captures that. If you were to hear this track as an instrumental, you’d think the song was about sunshine and rainbows, but it features lyrics like “‘Cause they say it’s coming soon, so sit back and wait for the boom. There are people with radical views, radical plans, making radical headlines.” It’s an art in itself, making the listener really engage with these issues from a different perspective.

As expected from a Rifles record, the album features some slower moments. “Venus” presents a soulful moment about the confusion of love, and sometimes trying to understand the situation of a relationship can feel a little foreign. “There Is My Heart” strips the feelings of love down to their basics. “The gentle hand in another’s hand, a song that sings you to sleep.” This track shows the band’s songwriting experience, building up a pre-chorus only to bring it back down for a chorus that sums up the song, a skill learned through years of songwriting and confidence in your own abilities. “Out For The Weekend” is simply an absolute Rifles classic, with that classic crescendo and fast chorus, the song being about letting loose on the weekend to escape the daily grind, a theme Rifles have explored in a long discography throughout their career.

This record was worth the wait because The Rifles released it at just the right time. In a world filled with social negativity and uncertainty, the band has delivered a record that strips down the principles of everyday life to their core and reminds us of the basics we should carry with us in our day-to-day lives.

Words from Doug Dewdney