The Rumble Strips

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Rumble Strips


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Origin = flagicon|England Tavistock, Devon, England
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Genre = Soul/Ska/Pop
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Years_active = 2004-present
Label = Current
Fallout Records (Universal Island Records)
Previous
Transgressive Records
Associated_acts = Vincent Vincent and the Villains
Action Heroes
URL = http://www.therumblestrips.com
Current_members = Charlie Waller
Lead Vocals / Guitar
Henry Clark
Trumpet / Vocals / Piano
Tom Gorbutt
Sax / Vocals / Bass
Matthew Wheeler
Drums
Sam Mansbridge
Bass / Vocals / "Rumble Drum"
Past_members = __NOTOC__The Rumble Strips are an English band from Tavistock, Devon. The band take their name from Rumble Strips, which are small, continuous lines of bumps along the edge of a road. Having known each other since childhood, a precise conception date for the band doesn't really exist. The current line-up has been together since 2004 and are now based in London. The band are currently signed to Fallout Records, a subsidiary of Universal Island Records. Their most recent single, a re-release of "Motorcycle", reached #46 in the UK Singles Chart on June 4, 2007. Their debut album, "Girls And Weather", was released on the 17th of September, when it reached #70 in the UK album charts, their latest single "Girls and Boys in Love", came out two weeks previously, reaching #64 in the UK.cite web|url=http://obscuresound.com/?p=1115|title="Let's Get Ready to Rumble... Strips"|publisher=obscuresound.com|accessdate=2007-06-26] cite web|url=http://www.therumblestrips.com/news.php?newsID=43|title=Single News|publisher=From the Rumble Strips [http://www.therumblestrips.com Website] |accessdate=2007-06-20]

First Releases

Fortunes for the band would take a turn for the better when out of the blue, independent record label Transgressive Records - who have produced singles for The Young Knives and Regina Spektor - would offer to produce the band's first single. This would reunite Waller with the band, and together they released "Motorcycle" on December 12, 2005. Waller said at this time "It was like, I have nothing to lose - I'm working for my uncle on a building site. What's to lose?".cite web|url=http://www.therumblestrips.com/band.php|title=Band Biography|publisher=From the Rumble Strips Website|accessdate=2007-05-16] It is believed that Waller reuniting with The Rumble Strips caused some stir amongst Vincent Vincent and The Villains, and that "Johnny Two Bands" was written about Waller's decision.

The band moved further into the public eye with a number of key support dates for Dirty Pretty Things and fellow Transgressive artists The Young Knives in early 2006, and then the release of their second single, "Hate Me (You Do)" on June 5. A further tour supporting The Zutons, and the release of the band's first EP, "Cardboard Coloured Dreams", followed this in November 2006.

Current Work

The new year brought the Rumble Strips their first move into the charts, with their release of "Alarm Clock" on March 19, 2007 reaching #41 in the UK Singles Chart. The band were asked by NME to play their biggest headline tour to date, as headliners of the 2007 Topman NME New Music Tour throughout May 2007. The tour saw them play a number of venues around the country with other new bands Pull Tiger Tail, Blood Red Shoes and The Little Ones. The band released a live EP recorded whilst on the tour containing the tracks "Oh Creole", "Alarm Clock", "My Oh My" and previously unreleased track, "London".

The band re-released "Motorcycle" on June 4, 2007. The single failed to reach the previous heights of "Alarm Clock", charting slightly lower at #46. Two 7-inch vinyls were also released of the track, containing b-side "My Oh My". A misprint was made on some of these vinyls where 1000 copies were distributed labelling the b-side on the opposite side to the one listed. These are already being considered collector's items, even by the band themselvescite web|url=http://www.therumblestrips.com/news.php?newsID=46|title=Details On Single Misprint|publisher=From Rumble Strips Website|accessdate=2007-06-20] .

Following the release of "Motorcycle", the band stated that they had already decided on their next single, "Girls and Boys in Love"cite web|url=http://www.therumblestrips.com/news.php?newsID=43|title=Single News|publisher=From the Rumble Strips Website|accessdate=2007-06-20] , which was released on the 3 September 2007 and was the official song of the film "Run Fat Boy Run", starring Simon Pegg and directed by David Schwimmer, and itself released on 10 September 2007.

Band History

Lead singer Charlie Waller was involved in music from an early age, initial inspirations included Lou Reed's "Transformer" and bands such as Adam & the Ants. He moved to London for art college and played with his band from Devon, the Action Heroes. After the Action Heroes realised they had been playing together for 9 years, they felt the need for change. With the former keyboardist - Harry Dwyer (who would later go on to direct most of the Rumble Strips' videos) spending too much time on his Morris Minor, Waller began writing and playing again with former Tavistock friend Tom Gorbutt, and also recruited Henry Clark, (coming as standard) the drummer from the Action Heroes Matthew Wheeler, The Rumble Strips were formed, the year was 2004.

Also during this time, Charlie became a member of Vincent Vincent and the Villains with flatmate and fellow singer/songwriter Vincent Vincent. The strain of playing in two bands eventually led to Waller quitting both groups before being coaxed back to the Rumble Strips.

Old schoolfriend and former bandmate of all the Rumbles (from the Mother Eating Blackberries and Action Heroes) Sam Mansbridge was brought in to the lineup at the end of 2006 to beef up the live sound, playing bass and the big Rumble Drum that is such a feature of the band's live act.

After Charlie sang lead vocals on 'Back to Black' with Mark Ronson, is producing The Rumble Strips' next record. The band are currently working with him on their as yet untitled second record at London rehearsal space The Loft. The new album is slated for release in March 2009.

Discography

Albums

2007: Girls and Weather

ingles

EPs

Contributions

*"NME Presents The Best New Bands" - Contains "Motorcycle" (Issued with NME - September 9, 2006)
*"NME Presents The Essential Bands - Festival Edition" - Contains "Alarm Clock" (Released June 11, 2007)
*"Run Fatboy Run: Original Soundtrack" - Contains "Girls and Boys in Love" (Released September 10, 2007)
*Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" remix

Media Quotes

"Trumpet, sax and a whole lot of weirdness" - NME - [http://www.nme.com/reviews/rumble-strips/7851 Link to Review]
"Off-kilter yet no less sublime, life-affirming music" - Xfm - [http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=163575 Link to Review]
"Single of the week!" - PlayLouder.com - [http://www.playlouder.com/feature/+bunch-of-45s-27/ Link to Review]
"If you see The Rumblestrips " [sic] " live, I defy you not to have a good time" - Drowned In Sound - [http://www.drownedinsound.com/event/view/14768 Link to Review]
"Single of the month" - Wide Open Road - [http://www.angelfire.com/indie/wideopenroad/pages/pg_2006003.htm Link to Review]

References

External links

Official:
* [http://www.therumblestrips.com/ Official Rumble Strips Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/rumblestripsuk Rumble Strips MySpace]
* [http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bandprofile.listAllShows&friendid=31995824&n=The%20Rumble%20Strips Tour dates]
* [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?entity=podcast&media=all&submit=seeAllLockups&term=nvtv FREE SESSION by The Rumble Strips by NvTv]

Audio/Video

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp4C-54u3o8 "Alarm Clock"] video
* [http://www.rumblestrips.co.uk/webvideo/ "Motorcycle"] video
* [http://www.rumblestrips.co.uk/webvideo/hateme "Hate Me (You Do)"] video
* [http://www.rumblestrips.co.uk/webvideo/creole/creole.mov "Oh Creole"] video
* [http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=163575 Xfm Session]