The Ripps

A rough-and-ready three-piece from the United Kingdom, the Ripps began attracting attention in the British music press in 2006 for their cheeky attitude and hooky, high-energy tunes. The Ripps were formed in Coventry, a town in the West Midlands whose best-known musical export was the Specials. The Ripps were formed by guitarist and lead vocalist Patch Lagunas and his brother Raul Lagunas on bass and backing vocals; their parents were Chilean expatriates who fled their homeland rather than live under the fascist rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, which doubtless informs the band's rebellious nature. Teaming up with drummer and backing vocalist Rachel Butt, who had attended the same school as the brothers, the Ripps started winning fans and impressing music writers with their frantic live shows and songs that swayed back and forth between street-smart protest and comic rabble-rousing. The group's first single, "Vandal," was released in the fall of 2006 on Catskill Records, and a full-length album, Long Live the Ripps, followed in early 2007.