Oh My Rockness

Michael Jordan was once asked how he finds the motivation to excel over an 82-game season. He said he concentrates on the few fans in the arena that have never seen Michael Jordan play and he plays for them.

The Rapture is kind of like Michael Jordan (or perhaps I just wanted to use that quote). No one can accuse The Rapture of having any of their success handed to them. They've worked their asses off to become the band that excels show after show. In 1998, members of The Rapture moved from San Diego to San Francisco in the hopes of finding someone to love them. It wasn't happening. So shortly thereafter they moved from San Francisco to Seattle to try their luck there. Nope. Broke, they barely pulled together the cash to buy a one-way ticket to New York City for one last shot. They played show after show, refining their game, waiting for the right time to strike. And the rest is hipster history.

Their debut album, Echoes, is on a major label. But before that, they put out releases on Hymnal Records (reissued on GSL), Gravity, DFA and Sub Pop. It hasn't been an easy road for them, but they have the skillz and the work ethic to give their doubters a beat-down. And their biggest asset, of course, is that they make you wanna dance and dance and dance.