Red Riders

In 2002, Alex Grigg and Adrian Deutsch crossed paths at a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert, where their shared musical inclinations prompted them to launch a band. Each performed as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. Deutsch put forward his former acquaintance Mathew Chapman, then based in New Zealand, to handle bass. Chapman happened to meet drummer Tom Wallace during a flight bound for Australia, completing the Red Riders. After a series of backyard parties and pub gigs, plus tours supporting the Sleepy Jackson and Jet, the group landed the chance to open for Franz Ferdinand on their Australian dates. The Scottish dance-rockers had just finished an American run during which they disliked the label-chosen supports and therefore chose their own Australian openers; the Red Riders’ demo stood out most strongly.

Red Riders joined the Ivy League roster in 2005 and issued their debut album, Replica Replica, the following year. Their concerts often unfolded in loose, disorganized fashion, with the songs taking on martial, anthemic qualities that invited comparisons to the Clash, whereas the recorded material reflected a clearer debt to the 1980s miserablism of the Cure and the Smiths. Grigg and Deutsch divided songwriting duties evenly, each handling vocals on the tracks they had written. Deutsch, however, wished to pursue another direction and used MySpace in 2008 to announce his exit. The band continued recording without him. When they learned that their labelmates and earlier touring partners the Vines had entered an indefinite hiatus, they recruited the Vines’ bassist Brad Heald to play guitar on the second album, Drown in Colour, which was tracked in two weeks.