Rascals To Split

Liverpool's sweeping indie rock merchants The Rascals have confirmed that they have split up.

Liverpool's music scene has rarely been so buoyant. After The Coral broke through with their debut album the pirates of indie pop were followed by a slew of bands each mining a similar vein.

Though some were good (step forward, Zutons) others were rather less remarkable. Since then, the city's music scene has splintered and diversified into all manner of stunning shapes and sub-genres.

The Rascals formed from the ashes of The Little Flames. Led by singer Miles Kane the band's sweeping, melodramatic style made them critical darlings. However the band always struggled to enter the mainstream with last year's debut album 'Rascalize' failing to breach the Top 40.

Miles Kane then formed The Last Shadow Puppets with Alex Turner, whose success allowed the songwriter to gain some of the attention he so richly deserves. Since then, The Rascals have reconvened to work on new material but it seems that the band have decided to instead call time on their time together.

“We can confirm that The Rascals have parted ways," a spokesperson told NME. "Miles Kane is currently writing new material and has been in the studio recording some tracks by himself. Greg Mighall and Joe Edwards are working on a film project with 'Awaydays' star Liam Boyle.”

The Rascals of course contributed to the soundtrack of 'Awaydays'. A coming of age tale set in their native Liverpool the band recorded a version of the Echo & The Bunnymen classic 'All That Jazz' for the film's soundtrack.

RIP The Rascals!