Unearthing a Forgotten Gem: “House of Jealous Lovers” by The Rapture

Alex Matthew

Bursting into the spotlight in 2003 with their cowbell crashing cult classic, New York post punk prodigies ‘The Rapture’ would never again eclipse the brilliance of “House of Jealous Lovers”.

In the autumn of 2003 The Rapture graced the iconic Late Show with David Letterman with a live rendition of their song of the summer, “House of Jealous Lovers”. It was both one of the strangest and most energetic performances ever seen on the show. Lead singer, Luke Jenner, screams out the lyrics in a maddening falsetto as if someone has just stabbed the poor man in the side and he is crying out for help with his last few breathes. Meanwhile further back on the stage behind him drummer, Vito Roccoforte, is doing his very best to smash the living daylights out of the kit he’s operating on. Whilst bassist Matt Safer jams out on the right hand side of the frame before indulging in ferocious interplay with the rest of the group and occasionally ceasing playing to clap his hands wildly in an effort to rouse the firmly seated crowd. To top it all off the bewildering Gabriel Andruzzi glides around the stage offering up some of the craziest and most obscure dancing to ever be witnessed on live television, dropping his knees on just about every second beat and repeatedly smacking the shit out of his trusty cowbell throughout!  A chuckling Letterman emerges after an armistice has been reached, bemused but evidently impressed he congratulates the band to mark the performance’s end. 

“House of Jealous Lovers” begins as it means to go on, strikingly with screams of electronic pain which quickly transition into the cries of an early noughties NYC crowd that sound like they’ve just been told it’s snowing coke outside. From the fifteen second mark, when the kick-ass cowbell begins, “House of Jealous Lovers” steadily builds into a cool cacophony of stylistic punk mixed heavily with electronic, all dripping profusely in funky guitar solos and hectic youthful energy. 

Produced by James Murphy, when “House of Jealous Lovers” dropped in 2003 it felt like a smooth glimpse into a slick future. The band were nervous about the single to say the least, upon hearing the mix both they and their record label at the time were uneasy about the idea of even releasing it for fear of alienating their current fanbase. After dropping, the song became one of the torch bearers for the wave of dance-punk music which swept through New York at the beginning of the twenty first century. Heavy traces of the electronic lustre Murphy coated the shining track in can be seen in his later work when he formed his own band, LCD Soundsystem. Here however it was used to superb effect to elevate and convert what would have been a solid punk hit into a polished slice of punk-disco groovy genius. 

With Murphy’s superb production essentially making him the fifth piece of the puzzle for this track what makes it even more astounding is just how phenomenal each member of the band is on it. Most songs possess one spotlight and throughout the duration various members of the group will be given their opportunity to take the limelight and shine for a bit. The lead singer will most likely have a few moments to showcase their supreme vocal talents, meanwhile a talented drummer may be gifted a thumping solo that helps the track build to it’s climax and the lead guitarist may well have some delightful riffs which are allowed to take centre stage during a couple key corners. What sets “House of Jealous Lovers” apart from similar singles of the era is how it feels like every member of the band is in the spotlight at almost every moment. Picture a pale beam of light shining intensely on the centre of the stage in some indie underground bar with peeling paint and drinks on sale for three times their regular value. The circular shadow the light casts is not anywhere near big enough to fit all four members at once but nevertheless they’re all gonna try and cram their way in anyway! As they hustle and tussle to burst into the spotlight their sounds collide off each other furiously like particles in an explosive chemical reaction. The results are electrifying!

The song is opened and closed by two fairly lengthy instrumental periods which act as a prelude and epilogue, serving as welcome bookends to the madness. Jenner’s vocal performance is oddly reminiscent to the agonising yelps of Tim Roth in Tarantino’s "Reservoir Dogs” when he lies howling in the back seat of Harvey Keitel’s car, most likely dying after a gun shot wound to the stomach. His falsetto feels strained as well as pained and boy does it work as he cries out the effective minimalist lyrics which are mainly composed of the song’s title being repeatedly screamed again and again. This is complemented well by the jarring guitar which slices into the song raggedly whenever it decides it fancies joining the fun. It gives the impression of a bounding dog being accidentally let off it’s leash by it’s frail elderly master and is partly responsible for the song’s wildly chaotic vibe which is overflowing with energy. The dynamite drumming is ever present, exploding regularly throughout the track whilst helping to further the constant impression that the tune is forever racing forward. It sounds choppy and similarly anarchic to the guitar, one has no doubt that Murphy may be responsible for a fair amount of jiggery pokery being put to use here in order to help create and further the frantic vibe of the song. Then of course, there’s the cowbell. It enters the already bustling mix early on and it’s rare to find an occasion when Andruzzi’s unhinged clanging thwacks aren’t present or if not are close around the corner. Throughout the course of the song they increase in volume and there are frequent bursts of frenetic intensity whenever he evidently feels his band mates are attempting to take a hold of centre stage. As if he’d let that happen! 

Of course like so many of The Rapture’s fellow New York counterparts who stumbled into the public eye in the early noughties they struggled to overcome and perhaps more importantly build upon their initial success. Their second album, “Echoes” which followed the release of “House of Jealous Lovers” was heavily delayed and as a result completely missed it’s moment with enthusiasm for the group rapidly fizzling out. When it was finally released in the fall of 2003 it came and went with little fanfare accompanied by a small stream of middling reviews and commercial disappointment, peaking at 121 in the US albums chart. 

The Rapture would release a further trilogy of albums in the rest of their career. The first came in 2006 in the form of the nicely titled “Pieces Of The People We Love”, the second two years later with “Tapes" and “In The Grace Of Your Love” being the third and final album post “Echoes” when it dropped in 2011. In 2014 DFA Records, Murphy’s label which produced “House of Jealous Lovers”, announced that the band would be breaking up. Unfortunately like the majority of their musical career it was met with little public interest and The Rapture became just another casualty of the New York rock n roll scene as they silently passed away. 

“House of Jealous Lovers” beautifully captures the feeling of a carefree and anarchic period in a person’s life which would explain why it was so graciously adored by the youth of NYC in the early two thousands who were no doubt experiencing this themselves, possibly for the first time in their lives. It’s deeply saddening that the band never again reached the sky-scraping heights of their undeservedly forgotten punk-disco anthem but one can take solace in the fact that we have and always will have the masterpiece that is “House of Jealous Lovers”.