The Rifles, Chinnerys, Southend

What’s quite clear as soon as DIY steps into the venue is that this isn’t going to be a night for the more inquisitive of ears, those who know a good augmented 5th when they hear one. No, tonight Chinnerys is full to the brim with Essex wide boys in their lager stained Fred Perry‘s, out to bellow along to ‘Local Boy’ and have a bit of a knees up.

Arriving onstage shortly after 9.30pm, the lights go down and the band power into new album opener ‘Science In Violence’ - a bold statement of intent that’s given the kind of rapturous reception usually reserved for a band’s biggest hit. “The world is ours and ours alone” sings Joel Stoker, and evidently the fans believe it. The temperature rises further with a quick-fire double salvo of ‘She’s Got Standards’ and ‘Peace and Quiet’, both causing an eruption of beer into the air, and mass singalongs throughout. As the band motor through tracks from their only two albums, it’s surprising to hear how many bona fide indie anthems The Rifles have produced in a relatively short period of time. Nearly every song is sung back at the band word perfectly.

And then it’s the tune everyone knows. The opening chords of ‘Local Boy’ ring out and Southend is whipped into a frenzy. Cue some of the most aggressive pogoing we’ve ever seen and some of the most precarious crowd surfing this tiny venue will have ever seen. A chorus of “We are the mods!” follows and Luke Crowther gives a wry smile that speaks volumes.

The slower acoustic numbers, ’Narrow Minded Social Club’ and ’Spend A Lifetime’, are thrown in towards the end of the set to give the crowd a breather before final song, the huge sounding ‘The General’ is played out and given the full treatment. If you weren’t looking, you could be forgiven for thinking there were 10 guitarists, a brass band and a string quartet crammed onto the stage. It’s an epic set closer, and one that sends the crowd out smiling into the cold sea air. Whatever you say about The Rifles, whether they lack depth or originality, they sure make up for it in sheer good fun.