Listen: Rmours – “Rebels”

Oh, the (rock and roll) age-old trope of rebellion, hearkening back to the Rebel Without A Cause, James Dean all the way through a certain hit tune by some Kiwi teenager last year, has legs after all this time with still miles to run. London dance-pop duo, Rmours, consisting of Anne Freier and James Allman, toss their hat in the ring with their latest single, overtly titled, “Rebels”.

The whole notion of rebellion against the status quo is an exceptionally basic, near primal, human urge. Accordingly Rmours have dialed back their billowing, Florence-like vibes of last year’s debut single, “Cash Machine”, to a far more direct and punchy sound here. Freier slinks between the one-two combo of hi-hat and key chord covering all that “it’s hard / to conform / to the norm”, and so on lyrical ground leading up to the double-time, snare driven “WE CAN BE REBELLLLLLLLS!” chorus.

This ain’t a thinking man’s tune; it’s lithe and blithe and it’s thrills are cheap, but who wants to have to use a cash machine to get their kicks?

Catch Rmours live 13 March at Proud Camden in London.