Pieces Of The People We Love

None of it means a damn thing beyond what it is. Which is just what they were trying so hard to achieve.

The Rapture sound amazingly fresh right now.

Pieces of the People We Love is a great funky dance record with guitars, and not much more. Luckily, it doesn’t need to be.

It's good to hear these hip-shaking hipsters cutting loose with such abandon. [22 Sep 2006, p.95]

Lots of cowbell, lots of bass. [21 Sep 2006, p.82]

In the end, Pieces of the People We Love requires less investment from its listeners but offers all the dance-mayhem energy and the dueling guitar/saxophone bits that make up the band’s sound.

Their second album ramps up the party beats, but at the core of delirious songs such as First Gear is a nerve-jangling twitchiness that reassures you the Rapture are still awkward guys at heart.

A less angular, more grown-up album - something that won’t rattle your nerves.

By refocusing on the dancefloor, the Rapture remains a step ahead.

Pieces... delivers greater consistency. [Oct 2006, p.104]

The album offers huge choruses that suggest the New York City quartet might be the indie rock equivalent to K.C. & Tthe Sunshine Band. [#15]

The Rapture cannily sidesteps the perils of trying to live up to its own loaded legacy by excising punk from its sound and focusing on what it arguably does best: outsized, blindingly-polished pop that shakes hips like a vibrating belt. [Dec 2006, p.96]

It's impressive then, that even with this newfound attention to detail, the Rapture still maintain a flailing energy and enthusiasm that most of the other dancepunk bands could only fake.... However, what ultimately makes Pieces a step or three down from Echoes is a drop off in consistency, reflecting a higher percentage of songs that fail to ignite.

It holds together better [than 'Echoes'] as a complete document, it contains at least seven potential singles, and sounds like a crack band at the top of their game.

The same wail-filled, guitar-driven dance music of yore, but this time with hints of rough Brit-rock sensibility, vague wafts of pared-down techno and two last tracks that make little sense to the rest of the album. [#22, p.100]

The uniformity of the album is at the expense of clear-cut standout tracks.

Propulsive, addictive, ego-driven bursts.

Their follow-up finds a better balance, albeit one that teeters toward a straight party groove. [Oct 2006, p.104]

Mostly, it's a trip into the not-too-distant past worth taking.

The best moments are [Jenner's] least intelligible. [Oct 2006, p.141]

Overall there's a sense of a moment having passed. [Oct 2006, p.123]

The Rapture has made a safe record.

And so it goes on sonic cliche after awful lyrics after terrible synth settings after lazy drum beats after... well, you get the picture.

It seems like they decided to go whole hog with the Duran Duran template. Not the best strategy, considering it isn't even working for Le Bon and company any more.

The Rapture have kept all the ingredients from their previous successes, but they have forgot to ignite the oven.