When I started this blog, I listed all the bands that I wanted to feature. Last weeks band wasn’t in it—it just came out of nowhere. This weeks band also wasn’t in it—it came while listening to the songs from last weeks band.
The Rifles was a big part of 2006 summer for me, and deserve to be here.
I was 17 for my freshman year at university. Like, all of it, since my birthday was in June, after all the classes ended and everyone had gone back home.
It was such a psychological barrier for me, that 1 year. I had roommate issues, romantic hickups, and many other small things I blamed on me being underage. It just ended up not being the best year for me.
During that year, my parents had moved to another city for work—somewhere a bit more south, with closeby vacation destinations. For the summer, they also rented a house in one of those places. I decided to spend my summer with them; I’d go there during weekdays, and I’d spend the weekends in the house in the city to watch movies and work on my side-projects.
I remember listening to The Rifles’ No Love Lost album almost every time I was on the ferry, going from my fathers office to the house that was just across the bay.
One of those songs, Peace & Quiet stuck with me for 11 years. I remember singing the chorus to myself any time I’m stressed out for the general way things used to be back home.
All I want is a little peace and quiet…
It would just come on in my head, out of nowhere, when I got stressed or upset. And then I’d have to listen to the song.
It seems, according to iTunes, the last time I’d listened to it was in 2017. Coincidentally, that was the year I moved to Canada and got some peace and quiet.
The Rifles wasn’t one of the bands that I kept up with. I didn’t know they released multiple albums, were still making new records, and in fact remastered No Love Lost in 2015. The remasters are brilliant, with so many little details now more apparent, and pulling the band up from “4 talented blokes with instruments” to “well balanced indie songs”, yet still somehow keeping their raw energy. I loved the versions back then, and I love the new versions now.