THE RIFLES ARE BACK, BUT WHY? NEW ALBUM ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR’ FAILS TO INSPIRE

ALBUM REVIEW | THE RIFLES – LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR by Morris Shamah

2.5/5

With Love Your Neighbour, cult East London indie-rockers The Rifles make their long awaited return. Already a full eight years since their last record in 2016, Love Your Neighbour was even further delayed by mastering issues, but is finally here, a few months later than planned. And it’s a mostly fun, seemingly harmless collection of bops that hide a cynical, outdated perspective beneath its poppy sheen.

The songs here are quick and easy, seven of eleven coming in at well under 3 and half minutes, all of them hopping along like the soundtrack to an indie film from 20 years ago that you can’t remember the name of. If you’re looking for something nice to put in your ears for 45 minutes and hum along to, well, it’s here. The bright joy of Mr. Sunflower, the campfire balladry of Venus, the mid-tempo-so-it-must-be-heartfelt Fall Apart, with its minor turn in the chorus – all the usual hits and tricks are here. It’s another indie guitar pop-rock record from a band of 20 years ago, and if you’re a fan, this won’t carve out its own space but it’ll fit into your collection just fine.

But when you scratch beneath the surface just a bit, the lyricism here betrays itself. Every hint of joy is hiding a gray turn, every implied smile is really just a frown coming at you from a funhouse mirror. First song and lead single The Kids Won’t Stop even begins with the curiously innocent sound of birds chirping. But pay attention to the opening lines:

“Life used to be easy / we had time to dream and time to dare / no limitations and a world out there / but you lose the clout / and the wheels come off with the wear and the tear / but don’t cry your heart out / cuz nobody cares”

Classic British cynicism there, all wrapped up in a bow and a poppy little guitar lick. The rest of the album follows suit, for the most part. The fast strummed britpop of Out For The Weekend is actually an ode to drinking to forget, and the more rollicking Money Go Round is a lament of the capitalist grind in this, the year 2024. On the album’s center point, the nearly 4 minute (an age, for this album) All Aboard, the fun bright instrumental is matched with a pseudo call to action against… calls to action?

“ ‘Cause when the freedom of speech gets exercised / Far too frequently I find / Although unqualified to teach / This necessity to preach from a mountaintop / Behind a keyboard, behind a screen / This cancel culture is a woke disease / Can bet your life man they haven’t been outside for a week / Our horizons are looking bleaker than bleak my friend ”

The album’s bright-meets-gray blend of feels start to take a darker turn. The nostalgic takes seem a bit narrow-minded. The odes to community feel less honest, a little more performative. When they yearn for a simpler time on Days Of Our Lives, what are they actually yearning for? How can you belabor the pointlessness of working nonstop to pay the bills when you’re trying to get back to your childhood – the Great Britain of the 1980s?

Ultimately, it’s all fine, because The Rifles aren’t actually saying anything here – odes to childhood and a yearning for a time you used to understand are nothing new. Neither is the music, but at least that’s palatable. It all begs the question – why bother?