The Next Wave Of Rave! I Am Soooooo Ready This Time!

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I was busy last time. I can't wait. I even know where there is a field!

By SAM KNIGHT
Published: January 21, 2007

LONDON

TO most people in Britain, rave is a memory, and a blurry one at that. For four years at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Britain’s youth took to the fields, forests and warehouses, took Ecstasy, wore some of the silliest outfits ever devised — like cricket hats, white gloves and gas masks — and ushered out Thatcherism in a strobe-lighted haze of electronic music that shook the ground they danced on.

Then Parliament passed the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, which humorlessly characterized rave music as “the emission of a succession of repetitive beats,” and gave police the power to shut raves down. That swiftly put an end to the scene’s drug-induced violence — and to the scene itself.

But if you happen to be in London these days, there are signs that something like rave is stirring again.

“The first time around, rave really seeped into the mainstream,” said Carri Mundane, 26, a designer who was a child during the first rave scene but kept the fliers amassed by her older brother. “The music was in the charts, and everything just became a little bit more psychedelic.”

This time, it’s more insular. And it’s different in other ways, too: some of the music is rock, not electronica, and the scene is no longer as defined by the twin illegalities of drugs and trespassing.

But a collection of young creative types are dressing up and making music that unmistakably refers back to the garishness, the euphoria and the escapism of 15 years ago.

In mid-December, the Klaxons — an indie rock band and the self-appointed leaders of the scene — invited a pack of D.J.’s, artists and other performers to play a final gig of the year under the railway arches of London Bridge.

The location was the site of illegal parties in the early 1990s but, in keeping with the more sanitized character of today’s movement, is now a well-appointed nightclub with a bouncer, sofas to lounge on and $7 beers.

The music didn’t sound like rave. Though tinged with electronica, the Klaxons and two other bands played stripped-back rock, not unlike much of the music that has been in vogue in Britain the last few years. And the dance floor was more of a punkish mosh pit, with lots of shoving revelers, than a blissed-out, synchronized community of dancers.

Still, there were glow sticks — a kind of waving coral reef of neon pinks, yellow and greens — and between acts, young men in leather jackets nudged their way around the dance floor, offering Ecstasy. Teenage fans wore reflective jackets, neon paint, sunglasses, beads and whistles as they hurled themselves back and forth, up and down, suggesting that if this wasn’t rave, then it was certainly a somehow-related cousin.

Like the original, the new rave scene may be a refuge from reality. Although neither incarnation of rave would claim anything as coherent as an ideology, there may be an echo of Margaret Thatcher’s frustrated youth among those experiencing the last days of Tony Blair’s Britain, said Tahita Bulmer, the lead singer of the band New Young Pony Club.

“That spirit of contentment has faded,” she said, with the country vehemently opposed to the way the prime minister has handled the war in Iraq. But it’s when people are unhappy, she added, that “everything goes neon and gets exciting.”

Ms. Mundane, the designer, who wears brightly colored clothing that has made her an arbiter of rave fashion, said, “What I like about rave is the positivity of it, the fact that it is so utopian.”

The rave renaissance may be a reaction to the country’s dour political state or to the tyranny of indie rock. “There’s only so much partying you can do to these shoe-gazing indie bands,” said Jaimie Hodgson, a music journalist, referring to Britain’s emo-heavy music scene.

Many participants say they are nostalgic for a movement they are old enough to at least remember, even if they have not experienced it themselves. Or perhaps they’re just looking for an excuse to dress up and take Ecstasy, otherwise known as MDMA, a drug best known for inducing a touchy-feely, sensation-inducing high.

The new rave scene is a small, tightly connected movement of artists, D.J.’s, bands and partygoers forged in a series of warehouse parties that, beginning in 2003, were organized by a gang of artists called the Wowow Boys, in New Cross, a ragtag neighborhood of students and boarded-up buildings southeast of London Bridge.

As in the 1990s, the gatherings attracted newly formed bands that were eager to create an environment “where the specific aim was to party, “ said Jamie Reynolds, the bass player of the Klaxons.

Hence, the outrageous outfits: At a New Young Pony Club gig, Oisin Butler, a psychology student who said he was starting a band called Aids Baby, sat wearing a purple bow tie, a red cardigan and glasses with Day-Glo frames and no lenses. His jeans were so tight there was no room for his keys. “You can wear anything, as long as it’s odd, or glittery, or neon, or is really disgusting,” he said.

At a popular monthly dance party in Islington, North London, people are encouraged to download smiley masks — a throwback to the original rave scene and an Ecstasy reference — from a Web site. The event started in 2003 with a party in an abandoned public bathroom; this summer 3,000 people in fluorescent attended its Glade Festival.

The dance-music scene has been “snowballing” for the last three years, says the party’s D.J. and promoter, who calls himself Saint Acid. He added that his early events were mainly attended by people in their 30s, wearing old clothes and looking to relive the dance parties of their youth, but now the crowd is “getting younger and younger.”

Mark Archer is half of Altern8, a riotous dance act last seen playing the violin in biological warfare suits in 1991. After 15 years of relative quiet, Mr. Archer, now 38, played at the recent Islington party and is enjoying the unlikely satisfaction of seeing a young band, Trash Fashion, cover one of Altern8’s old tracks.

“If someone had told me 16 years ago that I would still be playing now the same music I was then, and that rock bands would be covering our songs, I would have laughed,” he said. “All of a sudden rave has become cool again. It’s been a bit of a shock.”

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:32 (eighteen years ago)

OH BOY on the grunge revival too! *snore*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

Hahahah. I don't get it. I know a college age girl in Missouri who talks about rave and raving all the time. Are the Brits really that far behind?

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:49 (eighteen years ago)

yeah i read that and thought that it was one of the funniest articles i'd read in a while.

"WOW PEOPLE STILL LIKE DANCING THIS IS CRAAZY"

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Monday, 22 January 2007 03:56 (eighteen years ago)

Someone's a little confused about their subcultures here.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:30 (eighteen years ago)

Hahahah. I don't get it. I know a college age girl in Missouri who talks about rave and raving all the time. Are the Brits really that far behind?

Not really. The same thing happened to 'rave' as what happened to 'punk' in the '70s. Both were fashions that fizzled out in Britain after a few years (in terms of the zeitgeist, not the music - legal/illegal dance parties have always gone on, but people stopped calling them 'raves' a long time ago). However they inspired similar situations all over the world that kept going to this day.

This 'New Rave' malarkey, of course, is just a fad cooked up by publicists/the media to have something to do. Even Klaxons, who supposedly invented the term, admitted it was a joke. But I don't hate the player...

― MacDara Conroy (MacDara), Monday, 22 January 2007 08:53 (eighteen years ago)

Actually, after Saturday night I think the New Rave thing might actually exist. It's not really a genre thing - there's next to no dance element in the Klaxons and whether or not their album turns out to be any good is a bit of a red herring.

But where it might be significant is crystallising a cultural shift in the UK, or London at least, at this moment in time. Saturday was Digitalism and Erol at Bugged Out, and what surprised us was how YOUNG so many people seemed. We were there at the same time last year and and crowd had definitely changed - there weren't anywhere near as many 18 year old kids around, several of them clearly indie kids. It seems like the poles of guitar music and dance music have drifted closer together than at any point since the late 90s.

Bits of it annoyed me - I finally get the antipathy to the 'indie kids pogoing to Ed Banger' thing after seeing it first hand. The 'glowstick glasses' are endearing naff though. But it wasn't just the maximalist rock bosh stuff they were going for, tracks like Bay Of Pigs were going down nicely as well.

Thinking back to 2002-03, and how hugely unfashionable dance music was among indie kids or people under 20 in general, it definitely feels like something's happening here.

If New Rave doesn't exist as a genre yet (it probably doesn't), it will do by the end of the year. As RickyT was saying to me in the pub, it's only a matter of time before kids start pissing about in GarageBand and realising they can do better than the Klaxons or whoever. Could sound dreadful, could sound brilliant, who knows?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:14 (eighteen years ago)

I mean, it might be just me getting older, but I don't think so.

(Bay of Pigs = Bay of Figs, obviously)

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:15 (eighteen years ago)

bay of pigs!

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:22 (eighteen years ago)

Thinking back to 2002-03, and how hugely unfashionable dance music was among indie kids or people under 20 in general

surely 02 was the tail end of electroclash? i can't remember my years. and you had stiff like 'rocker' and 'poney' keeping things going...these were the years that our crew got into dance music (from being outright indie kids).

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:24 (eighteen years ago)

matt is right i think. 'keeping things going' innit.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:27 (eighteen years ago)

Lex - yes but those tracks were the exception rather than the rule, the culture in general was regarded as a bit naff though, outside of Trash and maybe two or three other clubs.

I haven't really been paying attention, has there been a resurgence of popularity in drum and bass recently? My friend's 16 year old brother and his group of friends are all heavily into it, to the extent that when they were allowed on the decks on NYE it was dnb all the way.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:28 (eighteen years ago)

As in the 1990s, the gatherings attracted newly formed bands that were eager to create an environment “where the specific aim was to party, “

WHAT A CONCEPT / MIND = BLOWN

However, it's nice to hear that Altern8 are working again.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:34 (eighteen years ago)

ok i guess this is the thread where ilx looks really old then!

altern8 reforming is about as exciting as a new series of the mary whitehouse experience.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:38 (eighteen years ago)

nrq you know less about dance music in this decade than the new rave kids do!!!

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:41 (eighteen years ago)

Bay Of Pigs far too good for the whole bloody lot of 'em

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:47 (eighteen years ago)

nrq you know less about dance music in this decade than the new rave kids do!!!
-- lex pretend (lexusjee...), January 22nd, 2007.

um which is why i'm talking about altern8.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

but it's always fun having a 'knowing about things' smackdown from the lex.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:50 (eighteen years ago)

seems to have been more or less constant for the last 7 years. around 2004 there was a 4Music shotr docu with Dillinja and Lemon D taking theit ridic. sound system around the universities, and their singles were landing between 50 and 75 (but not any more it seems - tho i suppose Pendulum has taken over plus there is dubstep overlap).

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:50 (eighteen years ago)

why does this article not actually mention Bang Face by name? too 'rude'?

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:53 (eighteen years ago)

Bang Face seems to have been going great guns to distance itself from 'new rave' on the whole, not that this answers yr question really

― Feargal Hixxy (DJ Mencap), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:58 (eighteen years ago)

they seem as distant enough by virtue of playing Actual Rave Music.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:16 (eighteen years ago)

Talk about drum/drill 'n' bass; anyone heard what TeeBee/ Bizzy B are up to?

― the Dirt (FunkDirt), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:18 (eighteen years ago)

has there been a resurgence of popularity in drum and bass recently?

dnb has remained consistently more popular than all other dance musics, throughout this decade

as for saturday night, new rave does exist. it consists of two things

1) large sunglasses with coloured frames
2) that rocky overdriven bass sound

― Storefront Church (688), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:39 (eighteen years ago)

Bizzy B had a 10" on Planet Mu quite recently, no idea about Teebee

― Feargal Hixxy (DJ Mencap), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:42 (eighteen years ago)

dnb has remained consistently more popular than all other dance musics, throughout this decade

measured by what tho? purely number of events (legit or otherwise) + attendance of same??

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:44 (eighteen years ago)

sorry i didn't mean to use so many question marks just then.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:51 (eighteen years ago)

Attendance is probably the best factor I think - Fabric in particular is far busier for dnb nights than most house nights, two and a half hour queues only to be told they're full etc.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

But I suppose the other question is whether or not dnb crowds are on average younger than they were five years ago.

My patience finally snapped with that "rocky overdriven bass sound" at the weekend. Record after record of sub-Justice blare using the same noise, and it's not even a good noise!

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 22 January 2007 11:59 (eighteen years ago)

lol klaxons

― jimbo (electricsound), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

measured by what tho? purely number of events (legit or otherwise) + attendance of same??

Neither, it's measuerd by the amount of people who like it. Every time I DJ I get some student type demanding I play D'n'B. So many non-dance fans have the Pendulum album it's ridiculous. I can see why - D'n'B being fast enough for rock fans to get down to.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:09 (eighteen years ago)

D'n'B being fast enough for rock fans to get down to.

waht

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:10 (eighteen years ago)

it's measuerd by the amount of people who like it.

radical!

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:11 (eighteen years ago)

I think DL means DnB is fast enough for it not to matter so much how bad you as A Rock Fan are at dancing (generally).

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:12 (eighteen years ago)

there's absolutely no scene for d'n'b here in Oslo anymore, like one club once a month. Eric Prydz fans the lot of them. Kind of agree with the d'n'b-rock argument. Know quite a few rockers into it who hate dance/house

― Brede Trollsås (FunkDirt), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:17 (eighteen years ago)

I think DL means DnB is fast enough for it not to matter so much how bad you as A Rock Fan are at dancing (generally).

Yeh partly. I mean, it's more energetic and bass-driven than House which is generally seen as a bit feeble by people who'd normally listen to punk music.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:21 (eighteen years ago)

theres a kind of 'punky/diy' element to the nurave sound. the overdrive bass sound isn't too far from a blaring guitar sound, theres a stop-starty kind of feel, which means it can be quite stilted.

the reason i dont like this sound (other than never having liked overdriven bass anyway), is the same reason i never liked alter ego's rocker

― Storefront Church (688), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:26 (eighteen years ago)

btw altern8 "reforming" = altern8 playing one show at bangface once

― altern-mongrel (kit brash), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:28 (eighteen years ago)

“There’s only so much partying you can do to these shoe-gazing indie bands,” said Jaimie Hodgson, a music journalist, referring to Britain’s emo-heavy music scene.

roffle roffle roffle

― slackety yax (H2-H4), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:30 (eighteen years ago)

d'n'b has that gritty punk sound.. at least the good stuff. It's like if Richard Hell were a synth. They're both aimed away from sound perfection

― the Dirt (FunkDirt), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:40 (eighteen years ago)

I dunno if Altern 8 are writing new tracks but they've been playing shitloads round the UK

― Feargal Hixxy (DJ Mencap), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

“There’s only so much partying you can do to these shoe-gazing indie bands,” said Jaimie Hodgson, a music journalist, referring to Britain’s emo-heavy music scene.

In fairness I suspect that the average reader of, er, wherever this was printed would feel justified in not considering either of those to be real genres

― Feargal Hixxy (DJ Mencap), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:52 (eighteen years ago)

"I Am Soooooo Ready This Time!"

Yeah? Too bad you're 34 with a kid on the way and a mortgage...

― Matt Carlson (mattsoncarlhew), Monday, 22 January 2007 18:14 (eighteen years ago)

i think scott was kidding...

― geeta (geeta), Monday, 22 January 2007 19:59 (eighteen years ago)

hey geeta!

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

hey stevem! are you ready for the new wave of rave?!?!?!?!

― geeta (geeta), Monday, 22 January 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

i am stoked for the rushness

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 21:28 (eighteen years ago)

COMIN' ON LIKE A SEVENTH NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 22 January 2007 21:28 (eighteen years ago)

y'all ready for this?

― geeta (geeta), Monday, 22 January 2007 21:33 (eighteen years ago)

but isn't the dnb thing only in britain, tho? most of the club listings i read in most US cities don't have much dnb in them at all. whereas britishes are always talking about dnb (love it or hate it), from my experience.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Monday, 22 January 2007 22:57 (eighteen years ago)

I know a college age girl in Missouri who talks about rave and raving all the time. Are the Brits really that far behind?

Haha: I think the contention here is that the Brits have lapped her, what with doing a second wave of rave while the first one is still bouncing around bits of America.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 22 January 2007 23:42 (eighteen years ago)

Anyway I think Brit ILMers should start a rock band and cover "Trip II the Moon" in an effort to push rave revivalism in good directions.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 22 January 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

DnB is pretty much the only one of the traditional 'dance' genres that gets any regular attendance at all in my city (San Diego). Of course it pales in comparison to Hip Hop and (even bigger) Indie-tronica nights. So I think it is more a city-by-city thing.

― tylero (tylero), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 01:05 (eighteen years ago)

i've called going to a club "going to a rave" it sounds so much more exiting

that y'all ready for this thread is one of the best things ever to happen. thank you ilm.

― george bob (george bob), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:21 (eighteen years ago)

*always called

― george bob (george bob), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

Anyway I think Brit ILMers should start a rock band and cover "Trip II the Moon" in an effort to push rave revivalism in good directions.

remove rock from the equation and yes it's a bobby dazzler

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

I don't think rock covers of rave classics are de facto an awful idea but most of the ones I've heard have been executed pretty poorly.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:30 (eighteen years ago)

how do they even work, with regular rock drums and whatnot?

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:32 (eighteen years ago)

have there actually been any other than Kaiser Chiefs cover of 'What Time Is Love'?

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:32 (eighteen years ago)

robots!

― george bob (george bob), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

Klaxons did a pretty good "The Bouncer"

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:12 (eighteen years ago)

i was about to say, theres the klaxons' 'not over yet', which is one of the worst things i've ever heard, though i suspect not as bad as the kaiser cunts' WTIL which i will not subject myself to.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:13 (eighteen years ago)

it's just like when these rock bands cover pop/rnb. fucking leave it alone will you. either try and make music like that in the first place or just don't bother.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

Amen.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:23 (eighteen years ago)

amen, seconded.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

amen break, covered by the feeling.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

"either try and make music like that in the first place or just don't bother"

i don't agree with this.

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:29 (eighteen years ago)

The Shins version of MA2 - Hearing is Believing is the worst i've heard. definitely a tough one to try pull off, re: drums

― Storefront Church (688), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:33 (eighteen years ago)

I'm with Alan here - Steve surely you have no problems with rave covers of rock tracks? The problem isn't the principle of the covers themselves, its that the covers are largely poor.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:51 (eighteen years ago)

the new wave is more insular and more underground thatn the last wave? good news for scallies, gangsters, dodgy cops etc:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/233/233822_angry_clashes_as_police_shut_down_illegal_rave.html

― pisces (piscesx), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

and why is that? because rock music is largely poor of course. xp

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

i feel a bit hongro saying this but w. rave melody, which is usually the main thing that gets 'covered' (as opposed to texture/sonix, drums/bass), is either not that coverable or weird to replicate... or is a sample of the 'black beauty' theme.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

or: how to make mentasm on guitar?

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 14:56 (eighteen years ago)

note that re "either try and make music like that in the first place or just don't bother" i am specifically referring to indie rock bands, the dominant species in this pop desert we call the UK.

this isn't strictly about covers either, nor is this the same argument as being for/against indie-dance (which i have always been pro and sympathetic towards re british take on (weatherall primal scream etc.).

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 15:05 (eighteen years ago)

I edited a video interview with the Klaxons (actually the interviewer was Hodgison) and they were pretty bemused about the new-rave thing. They seemed to think the whole thing is played out. Which they would of course, given that the tag has done what it needs to for their career. The whole thing seems mostly about fashion to me. If you're all fucked up on MDMA do you wanna be wearing incredibly tight pants and listening to distorted electric guitars?

― captain easychord (captain easychord), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

Haha, I ***LOVE*** the Klaxons and Hadouken! I knew there'd be controversy on ILM.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

Yo Spencer!

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 17:54 (eighteen years ago)

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