Indie/alternative band comprising American Nathan Nicholson, Australian Tod… Read Full Bio ↴Indie/alternative band comprising American Nathan Nicholson, Australian Todd Howe and Englishmen Adam Harrison and Piers Hewitt; together they deliver a mixture of raucous bass-heavy grooves, alternately fragile and explosive vocals, and melodic sounds. Packed live performances show that TBR have amassed a solid fanbase, and one forgiving of the long waits between releases.

In 2000, Nathan Nicholson left Tennessee, America after the death of his mother, and came to London. The band formed in 2001 through a chance meeting at London's 12 Bar Club between vocalist Nathan and guitarist Todd. This quickly cemented into a firm friendship which resulted in them living and writing together. College friends Adam and Piers, were soon intrigued, and completed the line-up. All shared common influences, and a passion for epic, escapist music - The Boxer Rebellion was born.

In June 2003, after funding and releasing their own limited edition self-titled EP, they bolstered their way onto Glastonbury's New Bands tent, and were soon snapped up by Alan McGee's Poptones label, who put out first single Watermelon in the same year. Before the enormity of what they were doing had even registered, the Boxers spent months in the studio rehearsing and writing, before disaster struck for Nicholson, and riders and roadies were swapped for a hospital bed and saline drips. A twelve hour operation to remove a life-threatening growth from his stomach was successful. He was lucky. The result was the cancellation of tours with Razorlight and The Killers, among others.

The band was signed by major label Universal Music following Exits, who promised worldwide distribution and a free hand in continuing to create records of longevity and substance. Instead, the deal proved more of a curse than a blessing, as Universal became reluctant to continue to finance the lengthy gestation of the next record. Financial difficulties led Poptones to drop the Boxer Rebellion in early 2007, with Universal following suit soon after; however, both continued to hold rights to the band's catalogue and digital distribution. With the record nearly complete and invitations to tour from Editors and others still open, the band began a lengthy fight to get control back over them, which they eventually won in 2008. In January, an unmixed version of future single Evacuate was released on limited vinyl, but it would be a full year before anything approaching a full release was possible, and some of the band moved to Berlin in 2009.

With the money nearly running out and so a physical self-release impossible, the band entered an exclusive worldwide deal with iTunes to put their new record Union out as well as a re-release of Exits. The album charted highly, reaching #2 on the Alternative chart and #4 on the iTunes UK Top 100, but was ineligible for the official UK Top 40 as it was released when a physical release was required. The CD and vinyl were eventually released in August.

The Cold Still was released in the U.S. on 1 February 2011 on iTunes and is available on CD worldwide through the Boxer Rebellion's own label Absentee Recordings. The album charted on iTunes at #24 with a peak position of #20, spending 9 days on the US iTunes album chart. The band made their network television debut on 2 February 2011 on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, where they performed the single "Step Out of the Car" live. The Boxer's new song "Both Sides are Even" was featured on ABC's Grey's Anatomy on 3 February 2011. Since the release of The Cold Still, the band have had several music placements including two in the videogame industry. "Step Out Of The Car" from The Cold Still was used in 2011's Rocksmith game and original composition "Losing You" was written exclusively for the Batman: Arkham City game soundtrack. Additionally "Caught By The Light" was used in the serial drama Nikita.

Also in 2011 the band released their first full-length live record Live in Tennessee. It was recorded and mixed by Ben McAmis and featured 16 tracks from a single concert.

On 7 November 2012, the band announced the release of their two volume B-Sides & Rarities Collection, Vol. 1 & 2, which contains tracks that had been previously recorded, but not included on initial releases of any of the studio albums. Volume one focused on material before and around the band's debut, Exits, and volume two included tracks that were released around and after Union, as well as some rarities that didn't make the cut or were included as bonus tracks for The Cold Still.

The band finished recording their fourth studio album, Promises, in the late part of February 2013. The music video for the debut single from the album, "Diamonds," was released on March 26. The band have toured regularly and released further singles, "Keep Moving", and "Promises".

On April 29, 2014, Todd Howe announced he was leaving the band to concentrate on production and other interests, leaving the Boxers as a three-piece.

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Discography
2003 - The Boxer Rebellion EP, Watermelon
2004 - In Pursuit, Code Red
2005 - All You Do Is Talk, Exits LP, World Without End

2007 - Broken Glass, J F K F C
2008 - Evacuate, Don't Drag Your Dirty Feet
2009 - Union LP, Flashing Red Light Means Go, iTunes Live From London

2011 - The Cold Still LP, Step Out Of The Car, The Runner, No Harm, Live in Tennessee
2012 - B Sides & Rarities Vols. 1 & 2

2013 - Diamonds, Promises LP, Keep Moving
2014 - Promises

Doubt
The Boxer Rebellion Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Lanterns in view
Warm breath is thin
Stems of light
In the cold, in the cold still of night

Careless as any hidden spark
Spreads quickly to the darkest places
Oh, there's doubt

Oh, there's doubt

Deadbolts guard against
Stave off the chance
Of a break away, away from this cloudy place

Spellbound by the stripping of the walls
You're leaving here with all this doubt
Oh, there's doubt
Oh, there's doubt

Doubt, there's doubt
What you celebrate
The errors from here from the errors you made

Doubt, there's doubt
To love as you should
The trouble, the time that you did all you could

Doubt
Doubt

Doubt
Doubt

Overall Meaning

The Boxer Rebellion's song Doubt appears to speak about the uncertain nature of life itself. The opening lines of "Lanterns in view, warm breath is thin, stems of light" suggest that the singer is observing flickering lights in the distance, and maybe feels a sense of disconnection from them. The phrase "in the cold, in the cold still of night" states that these lights are present in a place that's cold, quiet, and peaceless, which could be a metaphor for the singer's own struggles.

The lyrics continue to say "deadbolts guard against, stave off the chance, of a breakaway, away from this cloudy place". With this statement, it seems as if the singer is trying to run away from the melancholic state they are in, but is unable to do so. The phrase "spellbound by the stripping of the walls" could signify the loss of hope, as if the singer is stripped of all their defenses.

Moreover, the repeated phrase "oh, there's doubt" portrays the singer's fear of the unknown and the overwhelming sense of doubt that they feel. The last verse, "doubt, there's doubt, what you celebrate, the errors from here from the errors you made, doubt, there's doubt, to love as you should, the trouble, the time that you did all you could", appears to be a reflection on the mistakes made, and the singer's struggle to love or accept love from others.

Line by Line Meaning

Lanterns in view
The flickering lights in the distance are visible

Warm breath is thin
Breathing is difficult in the cold air

Stems of light
The lights create a row of light like stems

In the cold, in the cold still of night
It is cold and still outside at night

Careless as any hidden spark
A small action can quickly grow into something unmanageable

Spreads quickly to the darkest places
The unwanted actions spread rapidly to the worst areas

Oh, there's doubt
The negative emotion of doubt exists

Deadbolts guard against
The locked doors protect against

Stave off the chance
Prevent the risk

Of a break away, away from this cloudy place
Trying to keep away from leaving this bad situation

Spellbound by the stripping of the walls
Fascinated by revealing the hidden characteristics of the environment

You're leaving here with all this doubt
The person is leaving the situation with doubt in their mind

Doubt, there's doubt
The word 'doubt' is repeated emphasising its existence

What you celebrate
What you are proud of

The errors from here from the errors you made
Mistakes made in the past lead to current errors

To love as you should
Love in the right way

The trouble, the time that you did all you could
Despite the difficulties, you did everything you could

Doubt
The word 'Doubt' is repeated at the end

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Jimmy Benedicto Borja, Judy Alexandra Klass, Phoebe Dorissa Sharp

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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