Young Guns

THEY just can’t stay away. It’s only a few months since they were last here, but East End young guns The Rifles are heading back to finish the damage.

In the two years since the release of debut album No Love Lost, they have rarely been off the road.

And on Monday they return to their local shooting range – the Oxford O2 Academy.

The show follows the release of exhilarating new album Great Escape, and will see fans getting a muzzle full of hard-edged indie rock courtesy of frontman Joel Stoker, guitarist Luke Crowther, bassist Robert Pyne, and drummer Grant Marsh.

And, it sees a band who, like inspirational forerunners The Clash and Jam, have a honed sense of how to get a crowd going.

“The last two years has turned us into a real working band,” says Luke. “The first album didn’t get a massive amount of coverage, so people got into us through word of mouth. They discovered our music for themselves, so they feel strongly about it.”

Joel Stoker agrees: “Our fans haven’t just been told it’s good – they’ve found it out. They’re really loyal, and the crowds keep building.”

And that loyalty has seen them selling out everywhere from our own Academy to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the Astoria, and the Forum – where fan Paul Weller joined them on-stage to play Eton Rifles.

To record the latest album, The Rifles relocated to a farmhouse in Norfolk with producer Jan ‘Stan’ Kybert, who was personally recommended by Weller.

The Walthamstow boys enjoyed a bit of fishing out in the countryside and set about crafting a new sound.

“The last one was all three-minute, catchy pop songs,” says Joel, “But this is a much more mature album. We’ve definitely grown musically, without a doubt.”

Recorded mostly live, the album’s highpoint is the epic The General, which Joel wrote about none other than boxer Mike Tyson.

“We had some music with a great chorus about someone who isn’t what he used to be, but no verses,” he recalls.

“Then I got a call from a mate inviting me to An Evening with Mike Tyson, happening at the centre where I play football. It was £100 to go and ask Mike Tyson a question. When you’re doing that, you’re at the end of the line. But I had a subject for the verses!”

The album combines the band’s tough, working-class honesty with an uplifting ambition to go beyond that. No wonder Weller has taken them under his wing. Maybe he sees something of himself in them?

“He just genuinely likes us,” says Joel.

“There’s no other reason or benefit for him to help us out. He’s in a position where he can help. We supported him on a few dates initially, he got into us, and we kept in touch. He’s a lovely fella, and it’s blinding to have him championing us.”

The Rifles play the Oxford O2 Academy on Monday. Tickets are £12.