- Artist
- The Rakes
- Label
- V2
- Release date
- 19th March 2007
- Genre
- Indie
Art-rock skinny boys sound the alarm but lose their charm on second album
Forget the difficult second album syndrome, London art-rock four-piece The Rakes had a tricky enough time releasing their first. Immersed since 2002 in a scuzzy fuzz of angular guitars, clipped rhythms, arch lyrics and skinny jeans, the band released debut album Capture/Release in 2005 only to find the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party had beaten them to both the sound and the look.
Despite this handicap, smart and nervy singles such as 22 Grand Job and Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep) managed to help garner both fan base and chart placings with their tales of mundane jobs and routine social lives. They swaggered and sneered but there was a loveable vulnerability behind such skinny boys frontin' up while frontman Alan Donohoe's bookishness was well publicised.
This time around, The Rakes sound cleaner and more polished than before while post-punk influences have been joined by the ghosts of The Bunnymen and The Smiths - the former on the bittersweet Little Superstitions ("Say forever and you just say whatever"), the latter on the paranoid and urgent On A Mission.
But you have to feel sorry for The Rakes. Just like Bloc Party on their sophomore effort, the band attempt to address the wider issues of modern city life: the threat of violence on the streets, the fear of terrorism etc. And just like their peers, The Rakes sound forced and unsure of themselves. Indeed, the simplistic narrative of Suspicious Eyes (a tale of accusatory looks on the tube) is puzzling from such a supposedly well-read and intelligent author as Donohoe. Consequently, The Rakes' ten messages don't sound particularly new.
Also try: Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City The Smiths - Meat Is Murder Echo & The Bunnymen - Porcupine
