Have You Heard? A triple-play from Rogue Traders [2003-2010]

It's another triple-play today on The Hideaway.  Until a few weeks ago, HERC had never heard of Rogue Traders, an Australian electro-rock band.  Now he shuffles their upbeat tech-noise into his daily listening whenever possible and if you know anything about HERC, you know it's always possible.

Here's an electro-rock Summer Smoothie recipe to whet your appetite:

Released in February 2003, "One Of My Kind" was the third single by Rogue Traders.  It was their first Top 10 hit on the Australian Pop chart and also managed to top that country's Dance chart..  The track is basically a heavily remixed version of their fellow countrymen INXS's 1987 global smash "Need You Tonight" with that song's three-note guitar stab used extensively.  It is a high-energy, loud and shiny track made for dance floors and working out.   Despite the single's success, the album that followed sold poorly and Rogue Traders were dropped by their label.

Two years later, in May 2005, Rogue Traders returned with a new vocalist and a new single on a new label.  Peaking at #4 on the AUS Pop chart, "Voodoo Child" is driven by an amped-up sample of Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" driving organ riff.  The song was released on deaf ears in the States in 2007; that same year, the song was used in the Dr. Who episode "The Sound Of Drums".  The song's relentless energy nearly equals that of "One Of My Kind".

In March 2010, Rogue Traders issued their fourteenth single: "Would You Raise Your Hands?"  Armed with a new drummer, a returning guitarist, and yet another new singer, the band had continued their use of samples of hit songs to give their own songs instant hooks including riffs from The Knack's "My Sharona" and "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears.  This time around, the song employs an interpolation of "Antmusic" by Adam and the Ants.  (An interpolation is a recreation of a sound while a sample is taken from original recording.)  Unfortunately, the song did poorly on the charts and after two final singles later in 2010, the group went on hiatus.  Night Of The Living Drums, the parent album of the last four singles was delayed before being released in 2011 as the second disc in a double disc set entitled The Sound Of Drums, with the first disc being a greatest hits compilation.