The Rain Band

The Rain Band

The Rain Band are a Manchester indie rock group formed in 2000. The line-up centres on Richard Nancollis on vocals and keyboards, Mark Lee on guitar, keyboards and programming, and Stephen Taylor on bass. The verified membership information names Richard Nancollis as a member.

Career and releases

In 2001, the group signs to Temptation Records, a Universal/Island imprint. Their first release is the limited edition CD-R single Fist of Fury, issued through Storm Recordings as a run of 500 individually numbered copies. They then issue three singles: The World Is Ours, Easy Rider and Knee Deep and Down. Their self-titled debut album follows, and later in 2003 they release the Art Of Mass Destruction E.P. on Fierce Panda.

Style and influences

The band’s music draws on a wide set of influences rather than copying any one style directly. These include New Order, Depeche Mode, Neu, acid house, dub from King Tubby and Channel One, Can, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Massive Attack, Gang of Four, Cabaret Voltaire, Pere Ubu, Johnny Marr and Talking Heads. They are also described in terms of New Order-like synth lines, the brooding feel associated with Jesus and Mary Chain’s Honey’s Dead, the romanticism of Echo and the Bunnymen, and the drama of Mansun.

Split and unreleased material

The Rain Band split at the beginning of 2004. Before that, they write and demo around twenty new songs that do not get an official release, apart from some previews shared on the band’s website and at their final gigs. An official live album is also planned in December 2003, based on a Glasgow recording from 22 November 2003, but it is never issued.