Following their album release‘ Moonstomp’ last February, legendary cult band ‘The Rifffs’ are once again making significant news for the local music scene.
From landing a record deal with Alternative music distributed by Pinnacle in the early 80s, to having their debut single ‘Dance Music for the 80s Depression’ which hit high in the British Alternative charts and also played by the world famous DJ John Peel, this band has more than a story to tell.
“With the come back from bands like ‘Madness’ and ‘the Specials ‘it seemed to be a good time to bring ‘The Rifffs’ back to life and into the recording studios.” said band front man Ray Mercieca (singer/ songwriter for ‘The Character’s‘ fame). This was also echoed by other band members- Rayvin, Cooks and Najju who also added that the band (which is now a 7 piece band) has never sounded so tight.”
With 3 singles already released – ‘Jack the Ripper’, ‘Magic of the Sun’ and
‘Moonstomp’ the band will be releasing their fourth and probably best single entitled ‘ Champagne Charlie’, which will also coincide with this tour. Although Malta is mainly driven by mainstream music this didn’t stop the band to pursue their dreams and ambitions. So much so that their myspace site is now soaring at 262,000 hits (mostly foreign) which has attracted various promoters.
Howard Keith from Jagged House (The band’s management) said, “ We are very happy to announce that we’ve confirmed a mini tour in Eastern Europe starting from East Berlin and ending in Prague. The slots also include two big festivals alongside world famous acts such as ‘The Buzzcocks’ and many other crossover SKA acts.” Following the numerous good comments received from the States, Germany, UK and Czech Republic the band decided to take it one step further. “ I have nothing but respect for ‘The Rifffs’ for giving it all it takes at a stage in their life when most artists wouldn’t be bothered. Ray has already left his mark in local music history with 2 big concerts at Luxol with the Characters but before that ‘The Rifffs’ have done the impossible with sell out concerts at the Savoy to touring in UK etc. So I really cannot understand this lack of cultural support in Malta when other countries like Iceland, even in difficult financial crisis have always put culture at their fore front marketing tool for tourism. ” Howard Keith added.
‘The Rifffs’ will be having a warm up gig before they take off to Berlin this Saturday 4th July and will be also performing at the Farson’s beer Festival on the 26th of July. Two further special concerts will be announced at a later stage. For more info visit www.myspace.com/therifffs or www.jaggedhouse.com where one can also purchase all the band’s merchandise, full track and single track downloads.
www.myspace.com/therifffs
