NOISE

You've released singles and EPs in the past, but does it feel different finally having a full-length album on the market?

It does. I've been waiting a long time, and my hardcore fan base has been waiting. I know it's gonna be a classic, and I'm glad it's out because people are gonna understand me a lot better. I just wanna know the true general public's opinion, not just with sales but feedback. That's what I'm waitin' for. Because for a few years now-no offense-but I've had to sort of listen to journalists, the media's point of view on things, and that's only a small handful of opinions.

You're more popular in the U.S. than in your native U.K. Why do you think that is?

I can't really put my finger on it, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that people in the U.K. think I'm a gimmick. In the U.K., there's a lot of novelty acts that come out, but I'm real, and I'm honest, and I'm doing this because I love doing this. I wrote everything on my album, co-produced 70 percent of the album and exec-produced, so it's me. I'm not a developed artist. I developed myself. And a lot of people have got that twisted.

You've become a sort of reluctant spokesperson for "hoodie culture" in your country. Have you felt a lot of discrimination because of the way you dress?

Some people are like, "You call yourself Lady Sovereign but you're not really much of a lady." But I am. I've got tits, you know. I am who I am, and I've always been this way, apart from when I was five and I wore a pink polka-dot dress, but we won't go there.

Is getting indie kids dancing at your shows a particular point of pride?

Yeah, that's one of the main goals of the band. When we started we always were trying to react against the indie audiences that would just stand there with their arms crossed and not really move, so we were more confrontational-we'd jump into the audience and stuff. But then we decided maybe trying to make 'em dance would work better. And I think the audiences have also gotten more accustomed to dancing at shows. It's not a totally foreign concept anymore, like it was six years ago or so.

Did you guys split with production team The DFA [for new album Pieces of the People We Love] in part to prove you could stand on your own after they'd received so much credit for your earlier work?

It wasn't like we were ever like, "We are not gonna work with The DFA on this album," but the main thing was that they weren't available. James [Murphy] is LCD Soundsystem, and he was touring the world, so that kind of eliminated that. And also, we were really excited to work with some other people because we had never worked with any producers other than The DFA. Part of working with producers is that you learn something. That's why we spent a lot of time thinking about producers we'd want to work with

Will Ferrell aside, few acts have made better use of cowbell in their music than The Rapture. Do you get a lot of "More Cowbell" shirts at your shows?

We get that sometimes, and I didn't mind it. It's a funny skit, and I think "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a great song. But cowbell is such a novelty, and I remember a long time ago, when I first saw a band use cowbell, I was like, "Whoa, that's weird." But in the context we use it in, it just seems so normal. We're just making dance music, and cowbell and percussion are such an integral part of that. When people yell, "More cowbell," we're like, "Yeah!"

1. !!!: "Me and Giuliani Down By the School Yard (A True

Story)" (Louden Up Now, 2004)

Have three exclamation points ever boogied harder for nine minutes, or called out Rudy for not?

2. Centro-Matic: "Calling Thermatico" (Fort Recovery, 2006) Sleater-Kinney and El-P also received serious hyphen consideration.

3. ? and the Mysterians: "96 Tears" (96 Tears, 1966) Rudy Martinez legally changed his name to ?. Now that's punctuation dedication.

4. AC/DC: "Ride On" (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, 1975) That back-slash makes Bon Scott sound even wickeder.

5. +/-: "Ventriloquist" (You Are Here, 2004) Two math symbols for the price of one-and an obscure hockey reference.

6. The Asteroid #4: "Losing Touch with My Mind" (A Tribute to Spacemen 3, 1998) Rumor has it a The Asteroid No. 4 name suggestion resulted in a full-scale band brawl.

7. Quix*o*tic: "Sitting in the Park" (Mortal Mirror, 2002) Two asterisks, a Q and an X. That takes guts. 8. ¡Forward, Russia!: "Sixteen" (Give Me a Wall, 2006) The only thing better than punctuation is upside-down punctuation.

9. Sunn O))): "Cry for the Weeper" (Black One, 2005) The dark drone-metal duo proves parentheses aren't all fun and games.

10. Songs: Ohia: "Lioness" (The Lioness, 2000) Jason Molina downsized his colon for a period when Ohia became Magnolia Electric Co.

"He was cool. Drank like a king, cursed without apprehensions, scored a good-lookin' girl here and there; even had a bit of a rock 'n' roll aura about him.

"And he listened to James Blunt. Used to say it's good when you're making love with your love like earthworms ('High'), or when you're sentimental over a former love ('Goodbye My Lover'), or when you're nostalgic over a love that could've been but never was ("You're Beautiful").

"James Blunt was the type of musician who rounded dudes like him out while living."

If I don't die soon, I'll toast to my good fortune with a shot of Wild Turkey and then hit the Joint on Saturday night, November 18, to hear James Blunt sing live.