Photography by Jay Brooks

Rock ‘n’ roll has been the same since its inception; same sentiments, same instruments, same chords. They do say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But with a simple set of rules and road signs to follow it’s easy for musicians to slip into cruise control. Which is what rumble strips are for — raised ridges at the side of highways that, as wheels slip off track, cause hammering jolts of alarm. Thankfully, The Rumble Strips, the band, live up to their namesake.
     Growing up in Tavistock, Devon, the boys — Charlie Waller on vocals, Tom Gorbutt on sax, Matthew Wheeler on drums, and Henry Clarke on guitar — first started playing together simply to relieve the boredom of small-town life. “We weren’t totally isolated,” Waller says of their beginnings. “It’s not like we didn’t listen to music; it was more that we grew up without the music press. We would ‘discover’ records by Adam & The Ants or The Stones, usually years too late and without any context to put them into.” This meant two things. First, their influences were widely varied. Second, by remaining oblivious to the idolatry rock stars inspire, there was no apprehension about following them down their well-trodden path. “It began,” Waller picks up, “without anyone really thinking about it but, by sixteen I was decided. This is what I was going to do.” And so, from the living rooms of parent’s houses the sounds of skiffly off-beat guitars, an awkward brass section and stuttered drums began to sound.