REVIEW: The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love

The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love
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It’s been five years since New York dance-punk outfit The Rapture released their last album, 2006’s underappreciated Pieces of the People We Love. The band’s latest, In the Grace of Your Love, is their third full-length album and the first without bassist and singer Matt Safer. And while most bands might take the departure of an integral member as a strike against the future, The Rapture pushed on and continued to evolve their sound – and they sound as confident as ever.

The Rapture Reveal Cover Art for New Album

That, right up there, is the official cover art for The Rapture's highly-anticipated, and long-awaited, new album, In the Grace of Your Love. We've already heard first single "How Deep Is Your Love?", which, if any indication, tells us that this is sure to be one of the best releases of the year. As previously reported, this is the band's first release as a trio following the 2009 departure of bassist/singer Matt Safer.

In the Grace of Your Love is out September 6th via DFA. In case you missed it -- or just need a pick-me-up -- listen to "How Deep Is Your Love?" below.

Please Tell Me You've Listened to the New Rapture Single. No? Do It!

It's been quite some time since we last heard from The Rapture (about five years to be exact). And, unless you've been avoiding the internet or still waiting for the actual Rapture to come, then you probably missed the news that The Rapture have returned and are set to release their new album, In the Grace of Your Love, on September 6th. The album is the follow-up to the band's 2005 major label debut, Pieces of the People We Love. It sees the now three-piece group returning to their former label home, DFA, which is really just a match made in heaven. This is also the first album the band has recorded as a three-piece, following the 2009 departure of bassist/singer Matt Safer.

Whoa Whoa Whoa, Graham Tyler and Matt Safer in Julian Plenti?

EDIT: It was not Graham Tyler. I jumped the gun seeing that Epiphone and hair. It was actually Mike Stroud of Ratatat on guitar. Thanks to "Anonymous."

So, Julian Plenti (aka the solo moniker of Interpol's Paul Banks) just performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Upon this first listen, I can't say the song really did anything for me or that it was stronger than Banks' output with Interpol but there is something worthy of note here: Graham Tyler Mike Stroud and Mattie Safer were in the backing band.


(Graham Tyler performing w/ The Mooney Suzuki)

This is awesome. For one, Graham Tyler was a member of The Mooney Suzuki during what I consider to be the band's greatest era (Electric Sweat). He left the band to pursue a career in graphic design and I was under the impression that was the end of his professional music career. This makes it all the more surprising -- and awesome -- to find him on network television, of all places, playing his treasured Epiphone. It's also surprising to hear him play this type of music considering his musical background. Nevertheless, I'm glad to see he's still strumming away.

Considering The Mooney Suzuki went from a straight-up garage rock/pure rock 'n' roll band -- so authentic you could believe they were ripped out of the '60s -- to a psychedelic rock band, I can see why Tyler gradually grew disinterested in playing with the band. It always seemed his true passion and height of his tenure with the band was when they were one of the best nu-garage rock bands of the present day. The Mooney Suzuki is a band that has seen frontman Sammy James Jr. go from a mod-styled, energized rocker to more of a West Coast/California hippie rocker circa mid to early '70s. It's late so maybe my descriptions are vague or somewhat inaccurate, so I apologize for any shortcomings in this respect. If you go The Mooney Suzuki's official website, you'll see the spider logo that was used back during the Electric Sweat-era. Maybe the band is going to have a renaissance of sorts. Maybe.


(Mattie Safer performing w/ The Rapture)

And then there's Mattie Safer, former vocalist and bassist of The Rapture. When I heard a number of weeks ago that Safer was leaving the band, I was a bit shocked. He always seemed like such an integral part of The Rapture's sound. I hadn't heard anything about what he was up to, so it's a double whammy, if you will, to find Safer performing on TV like this. I think Julian Plenti's sound is definitely a bit closer to Safer's background than it is to Tyler's.

I can't tell you who the drummer was.

Interpol, The Mooney Suzuki Ratatat, and The Rapture are all from New York so, really, it's not all that surprising that these three guys performed together. In any case, kind of a supergroup though, no?

Julian Plenti's new LP Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper is available now via Matador Records.